DX 251 
.B6 
1843 
Copy 1 





(lass MAJZeTJ 

urn '.' ' 



PKESKNTE 



THE ZINCALI; 



OR, 



AN ACCOUNT OF 



THE GYPSIES OF SPAIN. 

3 *% 

WITH AN <L ( <* 

©riglnal doUettion of tljrir Songs anb JJaetrg. 



BY 



GEORGE BORROW, 

LATE AGENT OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY IN SPAIN 



" For that which is unclean by nature thou canst entertain no 
hope; no washing will turn the Gypsey white." Ferdousi. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO., 98 CHESTNUT STREET. 

SAXTON & MILES, 205 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON. 

1843. 



** 






Qtft 
W. L. Siioemaiter 
T t '06 






TO 



THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 

THE EARL OF CLARENDON, G.C.B., 

KEEPER OF HER MAJESTY'S PRIVY SEAL, 
ETC. ETC. ETC. 

My Lord, 
I peel it not only a gratification but an honour to be permitted to 
dedicate these volumes to your Lordship, the more particularly as they 
are connected with Spain, a country in which it was so frequently my 
fortune to experience such prompt and salutary aid from your Lordship 
in the high capacity of representative of our Gracious British Sovereign. 

The remembrance of the many obligations under which your Lord- 
ship has placed me, by your energetic and effectual interference in time 
of need, will ever in heartfelt gratitude cause me to remain, with unfeigned 
sentiments of respect, 

My Lord, 
Your most devoted servant, 

George Borrow. 



PREFACE. 



It is with some diffidence that the author ventures to offer the present work 
to the public. 

The greatest part of it has been written under very peculiar circumstances, 
such as are not in general deemed at all favourable for literary composition; — 
at considerable intervals, during a period of nearly five years passed in Spain, — 
in moments snatched from more important pursuits — chiefly in ventas and po- 
sddas, whilst wandering through the country in the arduous and unthankful 
task of distributing the Gospel among its children. 

Owing to the causes above stated, he is aware that his work must not unfre- 
quently appear somewhat disjointed and unconnected, and the style rude and 
unpolished: he has, nevertheless, permitted the tree to remain where he felled 
it, having, indeed, subsequently enjoyed too little leisure to make much effec- 
tual alteration. 

At the same time he flatters himself that the work is not destitute of certain 
qualifications to entitle it to approbation. The author's acquaintance with the 
Gypsy race in general dates from a very early period of his life, which con- 
siderably facilitated his intercourse with the Peninsular portion, to the eluci- 
dation of whose history and character the present volumes are more particu- 
larly devoted. Whatever he has asserted, is less the result of reading than of 
close observation, he having long since come to the conclusion that the Gypsies 
are not a people to be studied in books, or at least in such books as he believes 
have hitherto been written concerning them. 

Throughout he has dealt more in facts than in theories, of which he is in 
general no friend. True it is that no race in the world affords, in many points, 
a more extensive field for theory and conjecture than the Gypsies, who are 
certainly a very mysterious people come from some distant land, no mortal 
knows why, and who made their first appearance in Europe at a dark period 
when events were not so accurately recorded as at the present time. 

But if he has avoided as much as possible touching upon subjects which 
must always, to a certain extent, remain shrouded in obscurity; for example, 
the original state and condition of the Gypsies, and the causes which first 
brought them into Europe, he has stated what they are at the present day, 
what he knows them to be from a close scrutiny of their ways and habits, for 
which, perhaps, no one ever enjoyed better opportunities; and he has more- 
over, given — not a few words culled expressly for the purpose of supporting 
a theory, but one entire dialect of their language, collected with much trouble 
and difficulty; and to this he humbly calls the attention of the learned, who, 
by comparing it with certain languages, may decide as to the countries in 
which the Gypsies have lived or travelled. 

With respect to the Gypsy rhymes in the second volume he wishes to make 
one observation which cannot be too frequently repeated, and which he en- 
2 B 5 



VI 



PREFACE. 



treats the reader to bear in mind; they are Gypsy compositions , and have little 
merit save so far as they throw light on the manner of thinking and speaking 
of the Gypsy people, or rather a portion of them, and as to what they are ca- 
pable of effecting in the way of poetry. It will, doubtless, be said that the 
rhymes are trash — even were it so, they are original, and on that account, in 
a philosophic point of view, are more valuable than the most brilliant compo- 
sitions pretending to describe Gypsy life, but written by persons who are not 
of the Gypsy sect. Such compositions, however replete with fiery sentiments, 
and allusions to freedom and independence, are certain to be tainted with affec- 
tation. Now in the Gypsy rhymes there is no affectation, and on that very- 
account they are different in every respect from the poetry of those interesting 
personages who figure, under the names of Gypsies, Git&nos, Bohemians, &c, 
in novels and on the boards of the theatre. 

It will, perhaps, be objected to the present work, that it contains little that 
is edifying in a moral or Christian point of view: to such an objection the 
author would reply, that the Gypsies are not a Christian people, and that their 
morality is of a peculiar kind, not calculated to afford much edification to what 
is generally termed the respectable portion of society. Should it be urged that 
certain individuals have found them very different from what they are repre- 
sented in these volumes, he would frankly say that he yields no credit to the 
presumed fact, and at the same time he would refer to the vocabulary con- 
tained in the second volume, whence it will appear that the words hoax and 
hocus have been immediately derived from the language of the Gypsies, who, 
there is good reason to believe, first introduced the system into Europe, to 
which those words belong. 

The author entertains no ill-will towards the Gypsies; why should he, were 
he a mere carnal reasoner? He has known them for upwards of twenty years,, 
in various countries, and they never injured a hair of his head, or deprived 
him of a shred of his raiment; but he is not deceived as to the motive of their 
forbearance: They thought him a Rom, and on this supposition they hurt him 
not, their love of "the blood," being their most distinguishing characteristic. 
He derived considerable assistance from them in Spain, as in various instances 
they officiated as colporteurs in the distribution of the Gospel: but on that ac- 
count he is not prepared to say that they entertained any love for the Gospel, 
or that they circulated it for the honour of Tableque the Saviour. Whatever 
they did for the Gospel in Spain, was done in the hope that he whom they 
conceived to be their brother, had some purpose in view which was to con- 
tribute to the profit of the Cales, or Gypsies, and to terminate in the confusion 
and plunder of the Busne, or Gentiles. Convinced of this, he is too little of 
an enthusiast to rear, on such a foundation, any fantastic edifice of hope which 
would soon tumble to the ground. 

The cause of truth can scarcely be forwarded by enthusiasm, which is almost 
invariably the child of ignorance and error. The author is anxious to direct 
the attention of the public towards the Gypsies, but he hopes to be able to do 
so without any romantic appeals in their behalf, by concealing the truth, or by- 
warping the truth until it becomes falsehood. In the following pages he has 
depicted the Gypsies as he has found them, neither aggravating their crimes 
nor gilding them with imaginary virtues. He has not expatiated on "their 
gratitude towards good people, who treat them kindly and take an interest in 
their welfare;" for he believes that of all beings in the world they are the 
least susceptible of such a feeling. Nor has he ever done them injustice by 
attributing to them licentious habits, from which they are, perhaps, more free 
than any race in the creation. 



THE CrYPSIES. 



ON THE GYPSIES IN GENERAL. — NAME AND LANGUAGE. — THE RUSSIAN GYPSIES. — GYPSIES 
AT MOSCOW. HUNGARIAN GYPSIES. ENGLISH GYPSIES, OR ROMMANY. — GYPSY FOR- 
TUNE-TELLERS. — GYPSY JOCKEYS. — GYPSY WILL. THURTELL. GYPSY CLANS. CUR- 

t RAPLE. — GYPSIES OF THE EAST. ARTIFICE OF TIMOUR. BISHOP OF FORLI. 



I should find some difficulty, if called upon, 
to assign a reason why the singular race of 
whom I am now about to speak, has, through- 
out my life, been that which has most inva- 
riably interested me; for I can remember no 
period when the mentioning of the name of 
Gypsy did not awaken feelings within my 
mind hard to be described, but in which a 
fitrange pleasure predominated. 

The Gypsies themselves, to whom I have 
stated this circumstance, account for it on 
the supposition that the soul which at present 
animates my body, has at some former period 
tenanted that of one of their people; for many 
among them are believers in metempsychosis, 
and like the followers of Bouddha, imagine 
that their souls, by passing through an in- 
finite number of bodies, attain at length suf- 
ficient purity to be admitted to a state of per- 
fect rest and quietude, which is the only idea 
of heaven they can form. 

Having in various-and distant countries 
lived in habits of intimacy with these people, 
I have come to the following conclusions re- 
specting them: that wherever they are found, 
their manners and customs are virtually the 
fiame, though somewhat modified by circum- 
stances, and that the language they speak 
amongst themselves, and of which they are 
particularly anxious to keep others in igno- 
rance, is in all countries one and the same, 
but has been subjected more or less to modi- 
fication; and lastly, that their countenances 
exhibit a decided family resemblance, but are 
darker or fairer according to the temperature 
of the climate, but invariably darker, at least 
in Europe, than the natives of the countries 
in which they dwell, for example, England 
and Russia, Germany and Spain. 

The names by which they are known differ 
with the country, though, with one or two 
exceptions, not materially; for example, they 
are styled in Russia, Zigani; in Turkey and 
Persia, Zingarri; and in Germany, Zigeuner; 
all which words apparently spring from the 
same etymon, which there is no improba- 
bility in supposing to be " Zincali," a term 



by which these people, especially those of 
Spain, sometimes designate themselves, and 
the meaning of which is believed to be, The 
black men of Zend or Ind. In England and 
Spain they are commonly known as Gypsies 
and Gitanos, from a general belief that they 
were originally Egyptians, to which the two 
words are tantamount ; and in France as Bo- 
hemians, from the circumstance that Bohe- 
mia was the first country in civilized Europe 
where they made their appearance ; though 
there is reason for supposing that they had 
been wandering in the remote regions of 
Sclavonia for a considerable time previous, 
as their language abounds with words of 
Sclavonic origin, which could not have been 
adopted in a hasty passage through a wild 
and half-populated country. 

But they generally style themselves and 
the language which they speak, Rommany. 
This word, of which I shall ultimately have 
more to sav, is of Sanscrit origin, and signi- 
fies, The Husbands, or that which pertaineth 
unto them. From whatever motive this ap- 
pellation may have originated, it is perhaps 
more applicable than any other to a sect or 
caste like them, who have no love and no 
affection beyond their own race; who are 
capable of making great sacrifices for each 
other, and who gladly prey upon all the rest 
of the human species, whom they detest, and 
by whom they are hated and despised. It 
will perhaps not be out of place to observe 
here, that there is no reason for supposing 
that the word Roma or Rommany is derived 
from the Arabic word which signifies Greece 
or Grecians, as some people not much ac- 
quainted with the language of the race in 
question have imagined. 

I have no intention at present to say any 
thing about their origin. Scholars have as- 
serted that the language which they speak 
proves them to be of Indian stock, and un- 
doubtedly a great number of their words are 
Sanscrit. My own opinion upon this subject 
will be found in a subsequent article, I shall 
here content myself with observing, that from 

7 



s 



THE GYPSIES. 



whatever country they come, whether from 
India or Egypt, there can be no doubt they 
are human beings, and have immortal souls; 
and it is in the humble hope of drawing the 
attention of the Christian philanthropists to- 
wards them, especially that degraded and un- 
happy portion of them, the Gitanos of Spain, 
that the present little work has been under- 
taken. But before proceeding to speak of the 
latter, it will perhaps not be amiss to afford 
some account of the Rommany, as I have 
seen them in other countries ; for there is 
scarcely a part of the habitable world where 
they are not to be found ; their tents are alike 
pitched on the heaths of Brazil and the ridges 
of the Himalayan hills, and their language is 
heard at Moscow and Madrid, in the streets of 
London and Stamboul. 

THE ZIGANI, OR RUSSIAN GYPSIES. 

They are found in all parts of Russia, with 
the exception of the government of St. Pe- 
tersburg!], from which they have been ba- 
nished. In most of the provincial towns they 
are to be found in a state of half-civilization, 
supporting themselves by trafficking in horses, 
or by curing the disorders incidental to those 
animals ; but the vast majority reject this 
manner of life, and traverse the country in 
bands, like the ancient Hamaxobioi ; the im- 
mense grassy plains of Russia affording pas- 
turage for their herds of cattle, on which, and 
the produce of the chase, they chiefly depend 
for subsistence. They are, however, not des- 
titute of money, which they obtain by various 
means, but principally by curing diseases 
amongst the cattle of the mujiks or peasantry, 
and by telling fortunes, and not unfrequently 
by theft and brigandage. 

Their power of resisting cold is truly won- 
derful, as it is not uncommon to find them 
encamped in the midst of the snow, in slight 
canvass tents, when the temperature is 
twenty-five or thirty degrees below the 
freezing point according to Reaumur; but in 
the winter they generally seek the shelter of 
the forests, which afford fuel for their fires, 
and abound with game. 

The race of the Rommany is by nature 
perhaps the most beautiful in the world ; and 
amongst the children of the Russian Zigani 
are frequently to be found countenances, to 
do justice to which would require the pencil 
of a second Murillo ; but exposure to the rays 
of the burning sun, the biting of the frost, and 
the pelting of the pitiless sleet and snow, 
destroys their beauty at a very early age ; and 
if in infancy their personal advantages are re- 
markable, their ugliness at an advanced age 
is no less so, for then it is loathsome, and 
even appalling; verifying the adage, that it 
requires an angel to make a demon. 

A hundred years, could I live so long, would 
not efface from my mind the appearance of an 
aged Ziganskie Attaman, or Captain of Zi- 
gani, and his grandson, who approached me 
on the meadow before Novo Gorod, where 
6tood the encampment of a numerous horde. 



The boy was of a form and face which might 
have entitled him to represent Astyanax, and 
Hector of Troy might have pressed him to 
his bosom and called him his pride; but the 
old man was, perhaps, such a shape as Milton 
has alluded to, but could only describe as exe- 
crable — he wanted but the dark and kingly 
crown to have been mistaken for the monster 
who opposed the progress of Lucifer, whilst 
careering in burning arms and infernal glory 
to the outlet of his hellish prison. 

But in speaking of Russian Gypsies, those 
of Moscow must not be passed over in silence. 
The station to which they have attained in 
society in that most remarkable of cities, is 
so far above the sphere in which the remainder 
of their race pass their lives, that it may be 
considered as a phenomenon in Gypsy his- 
tory, and on that account is entitled to parti- 
cular notice. 

Those who have been accustomed to con- 
sider the Gypsy as a wandering outcast, in- 
capable of appreciating the blessings of a 
settled and civilized life, or, if abandoning his 
vagabond propensities and becoming sta- 
tionary, as one who never ascends higher 
than the condition of a low trafficker, will be 
surprised to learn, that amongst the Gypsies 
of Moscow, there are not a few who inhabit 
stately houses, go abroad in elegant equi- 
pages, and are behind the higher orders of the 
Russians neither in appearance nor mental 
acquirements. To the female part of the 
Gypsy colony of Moscow, is to be attributed 
the merit of this partial rise from degradation 
and abjectness, having from time immemorial 
so successfully cultivated the vocal art, that 
though in the midst of a nation by whom song 
is more cherished and cultivated, and its prin- 
ciples better understood than by any other of 
the civilized globe, the Gypsy choirs of Mos- 
cow are, by the general voice of the Russian 
public, admitted to be unrivalled in that most 
amiable of all accomplishments. It is a fact, 
notorious in Russia, that the celebrated Cata- 
lani was so enchanted with the voice of one 
of these Gypsy songsters, (who, after the 
former had displayed her noble Italian talent 
before a splendid audience at Moscow, stepped 
forward, and with an astonishing burst of 
almost angelic melody, so enraptured every 
ear that even applause forgot its duty,) that 
she tore from her own shoulders a shawl of 
Cashmire, which had been presented to her 
by the Faiher of Rome, and embracing the 
Gypsy, insisted on her acceptance of the 
splendid gift, saying, that it had been intended 
for the matchless "songster, which she now 
perceived she herself was not. 

The sums obtained by these Gypsy females, 
by the exercise of their art, enable them to 
support their relatives in affluence and luxury; 
some are married to Russians, and no one 
who has visited Russia can but be aware that 
a lovely and accomplished countess, of the 
noble and numerous family of Tolstoy, is by 
birth a Zigana, and was originally one of the 
principal attractions of a Rommany choir at 
Moscow, 



HUNGARIAN GYPSIES. 



But it is not to be supposed that the whole 
of the Gypsy females at Moscow are of this 
high and talented description ; the majority 
of them, if not, entirely profligate, are cer- 
tainly not unimpeachable in their morals and 
character, and obtain their livelihood by sing- 
ing and dancing at taverns, whilst their hus- 
bands in general follow the occupation of 
horse-dealing. 

Their favourite place of resort in the sum- 
mer time is Marina Rotze, a species of sylvan 
garden about two versts from Moscow, and 
thither, tempted by curiosity, I drove one fine 
evening. On my arrival, the Ziganas came 
flocking out from their little tents, and from 
the tractir or inn which has been erected for 
the accommodation of the public. Standing 
on the seat of the calash, I addressed them in 
a loud voice in the English dialect of the 
Rommany, of which I have some knowledge. 
A shrill scream of wonder was instantly 
raised, and welcomes and blessings were 
poured forth in floods of musical Rommany, 
though above all predominated the cry of Kak 
mitute kamama, — or, How we love you, — 
for at first they mistook me for one of their 
wandering brethren from the distant lands, 
come over the great panee or ocean to visit 
them. 

After some conversation they commenced 
singing, and favoured me with many songs 
both in Russian and Rommany; the former 
were modern popular pieces, such as are ac- 
customed to be sung on the boards of the 
theatre ; but the latter were evidently of great 
antiquity, exhibiting the strongest marks of 
originality, the metaphors bold and sublime, 
and the metre differing from any thing of the 
kind which it has been my fortune to observe 
in Oriental or European prosody. 

One of the most remarkable, and which 
commences thus : — 

" Za mateia rosherroro odolata 
Bravintata," 

(or, Her head is aching with grief as if she 
had tasted wine,) describes the anguish of a 
maiden separated from her lover, and who 
calls for her steed — 

" Tedjav manga gurraoro "— 

that she may depart in quest of the lord of 
her bosom, and share his joys and pleasures. 

A collection of these songs, with a transla- 
tion and vocabulary, would be no slight ac- 
cession to literature, and would probably 
throw more light on the history of this race, 
than any thing which has yet appeared, and as 
there is no want of zeal and talent in Russia 
amongst the cultivators of every branch of 
literature, and especially philology, it is only 
surprising that such a collection still remains 
a desideratum. 

The religion which these singular females 
externally professed was the Greek, and they 
mostly wore crosses of copper or gold ; but 
when I questioned them on this subject in 
their native language, they laughed and said 
it was only to "please the Russians. Their 
names for God and his adversary, are Deval 



and Bengel, which differ little from the 
Spanish Undebel and Bengi, which signify 
the same. I will now say something of 

THE HUNGARIAN GYPSIES, OR CHINGANY. 

Hungary, though a country not a tenth 
part so extensive as the huge colossus of the 
Russian empire, whose tzar reigns over a 
hundred lands, contains perhaps as many 
Gypsies, it not being uncommon to find whole 
villages inhabited by this race; they likewise 
abound in the suburbs of the towns. In Hun- 
gary the feudal system still exists in all its 
pristine barbarity; in no country does the 
hard hand of this oppression bear so heavy 
upon the lower classes, — not even in Russia. 
The peasants of Russia are serfs, it is true, 
but their condition is enviable compared with 
that of the same class in the other country ; 
they have certain rights and privileges, and 
are upon the whole happy and contented, 
whilst the Hungarians are ground to powder. 
Two classes are free in Hungary to do almost 
what they please — the nobility and — the 
Gypsies ; the former are above the law — the 
latter below it : a toll is wrung from the hands 
of the hard-working labourers, that most me- 
ritorious class, in passing over a bridge, for 
example, at Pesth, which is not demanded 
from a well dressed person — nor from the 
Chingany, who have frequently no dress at 
all — and whose insouciance stands in striking 
contrast with the trembling submission of the 
peasants. The Gypsy, wherever you find him, 
is an incomprehensible being, but no where 
more than in Hungary, where, in the midst of 
slavery, he is free, though apparently one 
step lower than the lowest slave. The habits 
of the Hungarian Gypsies are abominable ; 
their hovels appearsinks of the vilest poverty 
and filth, their dress is at best rags, their food 
frequently the vilest carrion, and occasionally, 
if report be true, still worse, — on which point, 
when speaking of the Spanish Gitanos, we 
shall have subsequently more to say: thus they 
live in filth, in rags, in nakedness, and in 
merrinessof heart, for no where is there more 
of song and dance than in an Hungarian 
Gypsy village. They are very fond of music, 
and some of the Chingany are heard to touch 
the violin in a manner wild, but of peculiar 
excellence. Parties of them have been known 
to exhibit even at Paris. 

In Hungary, as in all parts, they are ad- 
dicted to horse-dealing; they are likewise 
tinkers, and smiths in a small way. The 
women are fortune-tellers, of course — both 
sexes thieves of the first water. They roam 
where they list — in a country where all other 
people are held under strict surveillance, no 
one seems to care about these Parias. The 
most remarkable feature, however, connected 
with the habits of the Chingany, consists in 
their foreign excursions, having plunder in 
view, which frequently endure for three or 
four years, when, if no mischance Ins be- 
fallen them, they return to tho ; r native land — 
rich; where they squander .he proceeds of 
b2 



10 



THE GYPSIES, 



their dexterity m mad festivals: they wander 
in bands of twelve or fourteen through France, 
even to Rome. Once, during my own wan- 
derings in Italy, I rested at nightfall by the 
&ide of a kiln, the air being piercingly cold; 
it was about four leagues from Genoa. Pre- 
sently arrived three individuals to take ad- 
vantage of the warmth, a man, a woman, and 
a lad. They soon began to discourse — and 
I found that they were Hungarian Gypsies; 
they spoke of what they had been doing, and 
what they had amassed; I think they men- 
tioned nine hundred crowns. They had com- 
panions in the neighbourhood, some of whom 
they were expecting: they took no notice of 
me, and conversed in their own dialect; I 
did not approve of their propinquity,, and 
rising, hastened away. 

When Napoleon invaded Spain, there were 
not a few Hungarian Chingany in his armies: 
some strange encounters occurred on the 
field of battle between these people and the 
Spanish Gitanos, one of which is related in 
the second part of the present work. When 
quartered in the Spanish towns the Chingany 
invariably sought out their peninsular bre- 
thren, to whom they revealed themselves, 
kissing and embracing most affectionately: 
the Gitanos were astonished at the proficiency 
of the strangers in thievish arts, and looked 
upon them almost in the light of superior 
beings: "They knew the whole reckoning," 
is still a common expression amongst them. 
There was a Chinganian soldier for some 
time at Cordoba, of whom the Gitanos of 
the place still frequently discourse, whilst 
smoking their cigars during winter nights 
over their braseros. 

The Hungarian Gypsies have a peculiar 
accent when speaking the language of the 
country, by which they can be instantly dis- 
tinguished; the same thing is applicable to 
the Gitanos of Spain, when speaking Spanish. 
In no part of the world is the Gypsy language 
preserved better than in Hungary. 

To the above general remarks on the Hun- 
garian Gypsies, we shall add the following 
particulars, connected with them and their 
history, collected from various sources. 

The first Gypsies, said to be about 3000 in 
number, made their appearance a. d., 1417, 
during the reign of Sigismond, emperor of 
the Romans and King of Hungaria, and set- 
tled in Moldavia, near Szuesava, with the 
permission of Alexander, vojvode of that 
country; a greater number of the adventurers 
J allowed during the next succeeding years, 
making incursions into Wallachia, Transyl- 
vania, and Hungary. One band in particular, 
guided by their vojvode Laszlo (Ladislaus,) 
settled in the Zips (Scepusium,) and obtained 
from king Sigismond, according to Katona, 
a. d. 1423, the writ of diploma or privilege 
of settling near the free and royal towns, 
(libera regiaque urbs, in Hungary, is consi- 
dered as the peculium regis, the king's own,) 
and on the crown estates; which privilege 
placed the adventurers under the king's pro- 
tection. At 'he same time the king invested 



their vojvode with the power of settling their 
domestic quarrels. Pzay and Fridvaldszky 
quote a diploma of free migration of Wlad- 
islaus, which was granted to the vojvode 
Thomas Bolgaz and to his twenty-five Gyp- 
sies, living under the same tents, whom the 
king gave over to Sigismund, bishop of Funf- 
kirchen,for the particular object of preparing 
cannon balls and different kinds of weapons. 

The Hungarian Gypsies were, for the most 
part, the king's own subjects, but at present 
they are subject to those nobles on whose 
estates they dwell. If they had a religion 
of their own at any period, they most cer- 
tainly have forgotten it; they generally com- 
ply with the religious ceremonies of the place, 
town, or village where they settle, without 
caring much about the doctrine, of which 
they know little or nothing. 

In ancient times every tribe had in Hun- 
gary a particular captain and judge; in Tran- 
sylvania they had their vojvode, to whom 
they paid a tax. This tax was fixed in 1558 
by law: " Vajvodae Ciganorum juxta veterem 
consuetudinem a singulis Ciganis nonnisi 
florenum unicum ultra annum exigant; ad 
Georgii festum denar. 50, ad Michaelis toti- 
dem." These vojvodes were freely chosen 
by them from the most distinguished families, 
and the new vojvode was lifted up by the 
people amidst deafening acclamations. They 
kept writs by which they had obtained privi- 
leges from several Transylvanian princes, 
and in particular from the Batorys. In 1568 
and 1600 the dignity of a vojvode was abo- 
lished. 

The empress Maria Theresa and Joseph 
II. made some ineffectual attempts to civilize 
them. In 1782 there were in Hungary 50>000 
Gypsies, according to a census taken: since 
that time their number is said to have de- 
creased. 

THE ENGLISH GYPSIES, OR ROMMANY. 

No country appears less adapted for that 
wandering life, which seems so natural to 
these people, than England. Those wilder- 
nesses and forests, which they are so attached 
to, are not to be found there; every inch of 
land is cultivated, and its produce watched 
with a jealous eye; and as the laws against 
trampers, without the visible means of sup- 
porting themselves, are exceedingly severe, 
the possibility of the Gypsies existing as a 
distinct race, and retaining their original free 
and independent habits, might naturally be 
called in question by those who had not satis- 
factorily verified the fact. Yet it is a truth 
that, amidst all these seeming disadvantages, 
they not only exist there, but in no part of 
the world is their life more in accordance 
with the general idea that, the Gypsy is, like 
Cain, a wanderer of the earth; for in England 
the covered cart and the little tent are the 
houses of the Gypsy, and he seldom remains 
more than three days in the same place. 

At present they are considered in some 
degree as a privileged people; for, though 



ENGLISH GYPSIES, OR ROMMANY. 



11 



their way of life is unlawful, it is connived 
at; the law of England having discovered 
bjfr experience, that its utmost fury is ineffi- 
cient to reclaim them from their inveterate 
habits. 

Shortly after their first arrival in England, 
which is upwards of three centuries since, a 
dreadful persecution was raised against them, 
the aim of which was their utter extermina- 
tion, for the being a Gypsy was esteemed a 
crime worthy of death, and the gibbets of 
England groaned and creaked beneath the 
weight of Gypsy carcasses, and the miserable 
survivors were literally obliged to creep into 
the earth in order to preserve their lives. 
But these days passed by; their persecutors 
became weary of pursuing them; they showed 
their heads from the holes and caves where 
they had hidden themselves, they ventured 
forth, increased in numbers, and each tribe 
or family choosing a particular circuit, they 
fairly divided the land amongst them. 

In England, the male Gypsies are all deal- 
ers in horses, and sometimes employ their 
idle time in mending the tin and copper uten- 
sils of the peasantry; the females tell fortunes. 
They generally pitch their tents in the vici- 
nity of a village or small town by the road 
side, under the shelter of the hedges and 
trees. The climate of England is well known 
to be favourable to beauty, and in no part of 
the world is the appearance of the Gypsies 
so prepossessing as in that country; their 
complexion is dark, but not disagreeably so ; 
their faces are oval, their features regular, 
their foreheads rather low, and their hands 
and feet small. The men are taller than 
the English peasantry, and far more active. 
They all speak the English language with 
fluency, and in their gait and demeanor are 
easy and graceful ; in both points standing in 
striking contrast with the peasantry, who in 
speech are slow and uncouth, and in manner 
dogged and brutal. 

The dialect of the Rommany, which they 
speak, though mixed with English words, 
may be considered as tolerably pure, from 
the fact that it is intelligible to the Gypsy 
race in the heart of Russia. Whatever 
crimes they may commit, their vices are few, 
for the men are not drunkards, nor are the 
women harlots ; there are no two characters 
which they hold in so much abhorrence, nor 
do any words when applied by them convey 
so much execration as these two. 

The crimes of which these people were 
originally accused were various, but the prin- 
cipal were theft, sorcery, and causing disease 
among the cattle ; and there is every reason 
for supposing that in none of these points 
they were altogether guiltless. 

With respect to sorcery, a thing in itself 
impossible, not only the English Gypsies, but 
the whole race have ever professed it; there- 
fore, whatever misery they may have suffered 
on that account, they may be considered as 
having called it down upon their own heads. 

Dabbling in sorcery is in some degree the 
province of the female Gypsy. She affects 



to tell the future, and to prepare philters by 
means of which love can be awakened in 
any individual towards any particular object ; 
and such is the credulity of the human race, 
even in the most enlightened countries, that 
the profits arising from these practices are 
great. The following is a case in point: 
two females, neighbours and friends, were 
tried some years since, in England, for the 
murder of their husbands. It appeared that 
they were in love with the same individual, 
and had conjointly, at various times, paid 
sums of money to a Gypsy woman to work 
charms to captivate his affections. What- 
ever little effect the charms might produce, 
they were successful in their principal object, 
for the person in question carried on for 
some time a criminal intercourse with both. 
The matter came to the knowledge of the 
husbands, who, taking means to break off 
this connexion, were respectively poisoned 
by their wives. Till the moment of convic- 
tion these wretched females betrayed neither 
emotion nor fear, but then their consternation 
was indescribable ; and they afterwards con- 
fessed that the Gypsy, who had visited them 
in prison, had promised to shield them from 
conviction by means of her art. It is there- 
fore not surprising that in the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries, when a belief in sorcery 
was supported by the laws of all Europe, 
these people were regarded as practisers of 
sorcery, and punished as such, when, even 
in the nineteenth, they still find people weak 
enough to place confidence in their claims to 
supernatural power. 

The accusation of producing disease and 
death amongst the cattle was far from ground- 
less. Indeed, however strange and incredi- 
ble it may sound in the present day to those 
who are unacquainted with this caste, and 
the peculiar habits of the Rommanees, the 
practice is still occasionally pursued in Eng- 
land and many other countries where they 
are found. From this practice, when they 
are not detected, they derive considerable ad- 
vantage. Poisoning cattle is exercised by 
them in two ways ; by one, they merely 
cause disease in the animals, with the view 
of receiving money for curing them upon of- 
fering their services ; the poison is generally 
administered by powders cast at night into 
the mangers in which the animals feed: this 
way is entirely confined to the larger cattle, 
such as horses and cows. By the other, 
which they practise chiefly on swine, speedy 
death is almost invariably produced, the drug 
administered being of a highly intoxicating 
nature, and affecting the brain. They then 
apply at the house or farm where the disas- 
ter has occurred for the carcass of the animal, 
which is generally given them without suspi- 
cion, and then they feast on the flesh, which 
is not injured by the poison, which only af- 
fects the head. 

The English Gypsies are constant attend- 
ants at the race-course ; what jockey is not? 
Perhaps jockeyism originated with them, and 
even racing, at least in England, Jockeyism 



12 



THE GTPS1ES. 



properly implies the management of a whip, 
and the word jockey is neither more nor less 
than the term, slightly modified, by which 
they designate the formidable whips which 
they usually carry, and which are at present 
in general use amongst horse-traffickers, un- 
der the title of jockey whips. They are like- 
wise fond of resorting to the prize ring, and 
have occasionally even attained some emi- 
nence, as principals, in those disgraceful and 
brutalizing exhibitions, called pugilistic com- 
bats. I believe a great deal has been written 
on the subject of the English Gypsies, but 
the writers have dealt too much in generali- 
ties ; they have been afraid to take the Gypsy 
by the hand, lead him forth from the crowd, 
and exhibit him in the area ; he is well worth 
observing. When a boy of fourteen, I was 
present at a prize fight ; why should I hide 
the truth 1 It took place on a green meadow, 
beside a running stream, close by the old 

church of E , and within a league of the 

ancient town of N , the capital of one of 

the eastern counties. The terrible Thurtell 
was present, lord of the concourse; for 
wherever he moved he was master, and 
whenever he spoke, even when in chains, 
every other voice was silent. He stood on 
the mead, grim and pale as usual, with his 
bruisers around. He it was, indeed, who 
got up the fight, as he had previously done 
with respect to twenty others ; it being his 
frequent boast that he had first introduced 
bruising and bloodshed amidst rural scenes, 
and transformed a quiet slumbering town 
into a den of Jews and metropolitan thieves. 
Some time before the commencement of the 
combat, three men, mounted on wild-looking 
horses, came dashing down the road in the 
direction of the meadow, in the midst of 
which they presently showed themselves, 
their horses clearing the deep ditches with 
wonderful alacrity. " That's Gypsy Will and 
his gang," lisped a Hebrew pickpocket ; " we 
shall have another fight." The word Gypsy 
was always sufficient to excite my curiosity, 
and I looked attentively at the new comers. 
I have seen Gypsies of various lands, Rus- 
sian, Hungarian and Turkish; and I have 
also seen the legitimate children of most 
countries of the world, but I never saw, upon 
the whole, three more remarkable individuals, 
as far as personal appearance was concerned, 
than the three English Gypsies who now pre- 
sented themselves to my eyes on that spot. 
Two of them had dismounted, and were hold- 
ing their horses by the reins. The tallest, 
and, at the first glance, the most interesting 
of the two, was almost a giant, for his height 
could not have been less than six feet three. 
It is impossible for the imagination to con- 
ceive any thing more perfectly beautiful than 
were the features of this man, and the most 
skilful sculptor of Greece might have taken 
them as his model for a hero and a god. The 
forehead was exceedingly lofty, — a rare thing 
in a Gypsy; — the nose less Roman than Gre- 
cian, — fine yet delicate ; the eyes large, over- 
hung with long drooping lashes, giving them 



almost a melancholy expression ; it was only 
when they were highly elevated that the 
Gypsy glance peered out, if that can be called 
glance which is a strange stare, like nothing 
else in this world. His complexion — a beau- 
tiful olive; and his teeth of a brilliancy un- 
common even amongst these people, who 
have all fine teeth. He was dressed in a 
coarse wagoner's slop, which, however, was 
unable to conceal altogether the proportions 
of his noble and Herculean figure. He might 
be about twenty-eight. His companion and 
his captain, Gypsy Will, was, I think, fifty 
when he was hanged, ten years subsequently, 
(for I never afterwards lost sight of him,) in 
the front of the jail of Bury St. Edmonds. I 
have still present before me his bushy black 
hair, his black face, and his big black eyes, 
full and thoughtful, but fixed and staring. 
His dress consisted of a loose blue jockey 
coat, jockey boots and breeches ; in his hand 
a huge jockey whip, and on his head (it struck 
me at the time for its singularity) a broad- 
brimmed, high-peaked Andalusian hat, or at 
least one very much resembling those gene- 
rally worn in that province. In stature he 
was shorter than his more youthful compa- 
nion, yet he must have measured six feet at 
least, and was stronger built, if possible. 
What brawn ! — what bone ! — what legs ! — 
what thighs ! The third Gypsy, who re- 
mained on horseback, looked more like a 
phantom than any thing human. His com-" 
plexion was the colour of pale dust, and of 
that same colour was all that pertained to 
him, hat and clothes. His boots were dusty 
of course, for it was midsummer, and his very 
horse was of a dusty dun. His features were 
whimsically ugly, most of his teeth were 
gone, and as to his age, he might be thirty 
or sixty. He was somewhat lame and halt, 
but an unequalled rider when once upon his 
steed, which he was naturally not very soli- 
citous to quit. I subsequently discovered 
that he was considered the wizard of the 
gang. 

I have been already prolix with respect to 
these Gypsies, but I will not leave them quite 
yet. The intended combatants at length ar- 
rived ; it was necessary to clear the ring, — 
always a troublesome and difficult task. Thur- 
tell went up to the two Gypsies, with whom 
he seemed to be acquainted, and, with his 
surly smile, said two or three words, which 
I, who was standing by, did not understand. 
The Gypsies smiled in return, and giving the 
reins of their animals to their mounted com- 
panion, immediately set about the task which 
the king of the flashmen had, as I conjecture, 
imposed upon them ; this they soon accom- 
plished. Who could stand against such fel- 
lows and such whips? The fight was soon 
over — then there was a pause. Once more 
Thurtell came up to the Gypsies and said 
something; the Gypsies looked at each other 
and conversed, but their words had then no 
meaning for my ears. The tall Gypsy shook 
his head — "Very well," said the other, in 
English, "I will— that's all." 



GYPSY CLANS. CURRAPLE. 



13 



Then pushing the people aside, he strode 
to the ropes, over which he bounded into the 
ring, flinging his Spanish hat high into the 
air. 

Gypsy Will.— "The best man in England 
for twenty pounds?" 

Thurtell.— "I am backer." 

Twenty pounds is a tempting sum,— and 
there were men that day upon the green 
meadow who would have shed the blood of 
their own fathers for the fifth of the price. 
But the Gypsy was not an unknown man, his 
prowess and strength were notorious, and no 
one cared to encounter him. Some of the 
Jews looked eager for a moment; but their 
sharp eyes quailed quickly before his savage 
glances, as he towered in the ring, his huge 
form dilating, and his black features con- 
vulsed with excitement. The Westminster 
bravos eyed the Gypsy askance; but the 
comparison, if they made any, seemed by no 
means favourable to themselves. "Gypsy! 
rurn chap.— Ugly customer,— always in train- 

i ng ' > j Such Were the ex c ]a nmtions which I 
heard, some of which at that period of my 
life I did not understand. 

No man would fight the Gvpsy.— Yes ! a 
strong country fellow wished to win the 
stakes, and was about to fling up his hat in 
defiance, but he was prevented by his friends, 
•with— "Fool ! he'll kill you !" 

As the Gypsies were mounting their horses, 
I heard the dusty phantom exclaim— 

"Brother, you are an arrant ring-maker 
=and a horse-breaker ; you'll make a hempen 
ring to break your own neck of a horse one 
of these days." 

They pressed their horses' flanks, again 
leaped over the ditches, and speedily va- 
nished, amidst the whirlwinds of dust which 
they raised upon the road. 

The words of the phantom Gypsy were 
ominous. Gypsy Will was eventually exe- 
cuted for a murder committed in his early 
youth, in company with two English labour- 
ers, one of whom confessed the fact on his 
•death-bed. He was the head of the clan 
Young, which, with the clan Smith, or Cur- 
raple, still haunts two of the eastern coun- 
ties. 

The name Curraple is a favourite one 
amongst the Gypsies. It excited the curi- 
osity of the amiable White, of Selbourne, 
who m one of his letters mentions it as per- 
taining to the clan Stanley. He conceived 
it to be partly Greek, from the termination 
aple, or ople, which put him in mind of jtoak. 
Curraple,* however, means a smith — a name 
very appropriate to a Gypsy. 

THE GYPSIES OP THE EAST, OR ZINGARRI. 

What has been said of the Gypsies of Eu- 
rope is, to a considerable extent, applicable 
to their brethren in the East, or as t'hev are 
called Zingarri ; they are either found wan- 

* The root is •• curaw," to strike, hammer, &c. Curra- 
ple is likewise a legitimate Sanscrit word, signifying a 
jxoord. 

.3 



dering amongst the deserts or mountains, or 
settled in towns, supporting themselves by 
horse-dealing or jugglery, by music and song. 
In no part of the East are they more nume- 
rous than in Turkey, especially in Constan- 
tinople, where the females frequently enter 
the harems of the great, pretending to cure 
children of "the evil eye," and to interpret 
the dreams of the women. They are not un- 
frequently seen in the coffee-houses, exhibit- 
ing their figures in lascivious dances to the 
tune of various instruments; yet these fe- 
males are by no means unchaste, however 
their manners and appearance may denote 
the contrary, and either Turk or Christian 
who, stimulated by their songs and voluptu- 
ous movements, should address them with 
proposals of a dishonourable nature, would, 
in all probability, meet with a decided re- 
pulse. 

Amongst the Zingarri are not a few who 
deal in precious stones, and some who vend 
poisons; and the most remarkable individual 
whom it has been my fortune to encounter 
amongst the Gypsies, whether of the Eastern 
or Western world, was a person who dealt 
in both these articles. He was fc native of 
Constantinople, and in the pursuit of his trade 
had visited the most remote and remarkable 
portions of the world. He had traversed 
alone and on foot the greatest part of India; 
he spoke several dialects of the Malay, and 
understood the original language of Java, 
that isle more fertile in poisons than even 
" far Iolchos and Spain." From what 1 could 
learn from him, it appeared that his jewels 
were in less request than his drugs, though, 
he assured me that there was scarcely a Bey 
or Satrap in Persia or Turkey whom he had 
not supplied with both. I have seen this in- 
dividual in more countries than one, for he 
flits over the world like the shadow of a cloud, 
the last time at Granada in Spain, whither he 
had come after paying a visit to his Gitano 
brethren in the presidio of Ceuta. 

Few Eastern authors have spoken of the 
Zingarri, notwithstanding they have been 
known in the East for many centuries; 
amongst the few, none has made more curi- 
ous mention of them than Arabschah, in a 
chapter of his life of Timour or Tamerlane, 
which is deservedly considered as one of the 
three classic works of Arabian literature. 
This passage, which, while it serves to illus- 
trate the craft, if not the valour of the con- 
queror of half the world, offers some curious 
particulars as to Gypsy life in the East at a 
remote period, will scarcely be considered 
out of place if reproduced here, and the fol- 
lowing is as close a translation of it as the 
metaphorical style of the original will allow. 

"There were in Samarcand numerous fa- 
milies of Zingarri of various descriptions; 
some were wrestlers, others gladiators, others 
pugilists. These peoplo were much at vari- 
ance, so that hostilities and battling were con- 
tinually arising amongst them. Each band 
had its chief and subordinate officers; and it 
came to pass that Timour and the power 



14 



THE GYPSIES. 



which he possessed filled them with dread, 
for they knew that he was aware of their 
crimes and disorderly way of life. Now it 
was the custom of Timour, on departing upon 
his expeditions, to leave a viceroy in Samar- 
cand ; but no sooner had he left the city, than 
forth marched these bands, and giving battle 
to the viceroy, deposed him and took posses- 
sion of the government, so that on the return 
of Timour he found order broken, confusion 
reigning, and his throne overturned, and then 
he had much to do in restoring things to their 
former state, and in punishing or pardoning 
the guilty; but no sooner did he depart again 
to his wars, and to his various other con- 
cerns, than they broke out into the same ex- 
cesses, and this they repeated no less than 
three times, and he at length laid a plan for 
their utter extermination, and it was the fol- 
lowing. He commenced building a wall, and 
he summoned unto him the people small and 
great, and he allotted to every man his place, 
and to every workman his duty, and he sta- 
tioned the Zingarri and their chieftains apart; 
and in one particular spot he placed a band 
of soldiers, and he commanded them to kill 
whomsoever he should send to them ; and 
having done so, he called to him the heads 
of thelpeople, and he filled the cup for them, 
and placed upon them a splendid vest ; and 
when the turn came to the Zingarri, he like- 
wise pledged one of them, and bestowed a 
vest upon him, and sent him with a message 
to the soldiers, who, as soon as he arrived, 
tore from him his vest and stabbed him, pour- 
ing forth the gold of his heart into the pan of 
destruction,* and in this way they continued 
until the last of them was destroyed; and by 
that blow he exterminated their race, and 
their traces, and from that time forward there 
were no more rebellions in Samarcand." 

It has of late years been one of the favour- 
ite theories of the learned, that Timour's in- 



life. 



An eastern image tantamount to the taking away of 



vasion of Hindostan, and the cruelties com- 
mitted by his savage hordes in that part of 
the world, caused a vast number of Hindoos 
to abandon their native land, and that the 
Gypsies of the present day are the descend- 
ants of those exiles who wended their weary- 
way to the West. Now provided the above 
passage in the work of Arabschah be entitled 
to credence, the opinion that Timour was the 
cause of the expatriation and subsequent wan- 
dering life of these people, must be abandoned 
as untenable. At the time he is stated by the 
Arabian writer to have annihilated the Gypsy 
hordes of Samarcand, he had but just com- 
menced his career of conquest and devasta- 
tion, and had not even directed his thoughts 
to the invasion of India; yet at this early pe- 
riod of the history of his life we find families 
of Zingarri established at Samarcand, living 
much in the same manner as others of the 
race have subsequently done in various towns 
of Europe and the East; but supposing the 
event here narrated to be a fable, or at best 
a floating legend, it appears singular that, if 
they left their native land to escape from Ti- 
mour, they should never have mentioned in 
the Western world the name of that scourge 
of the human race, nor detailed the history 
of their flight and sufferings, which assuredly 
would have procured them sympathy; the ra- 
vages of Timour being already but too well 
known in Europe. That they came from In- 
dia is much easier to prove than that they 
fled before the fierce Mongol. 

Such people as the Gypsies, whom the 
Bishop of Forli, in the year 1422, only six- 
teen years subsequent to the invasion of In- 
dia, describes as a " raging rabble, of brutal 
and animal propensities,"* are not such as 
generally abandon their country on foreign 



*Gentes non multum morigeratjc,sed quasi bruta ann 
ma'ia et furentes. See Vol. xxii. of the Supplement to 
the works of Muratori, p. 890. 



THE ZINCALI. 



CHAPTER I. 



OP THE SPANISH GYPSIES IN GENERAL. — 
NAMES.— ARRIVAL — EGYPTIAN PENITENTS. 
PECULIARITIES OF SPAIN. PROVINCES 

. WHICH THE GYPSIES PRINCIPALLY FRE- 
QUENTED. 

Gitanos, or Egyptians, is the name by 
which the Gypsies have been most generally 
known in Spain, in the ancient as well as in 
the modern period, but various other names 
have been and still are applied to them ; for 
example, New Castilians, Germans, and Fle- 
mings ; the first of which titles probably ori- 
ginated after the name of Gitano had begun 
to be considered a term of reproach and in- 
famy. They may have thus designated them- 
selves from an unwillingness to utter, when 
speaking of themselves, the detested expres- 
sion " Gitano," a word which seldom escapes 
their mouths ; or it may have been applied 
to them first by the Spaniards, in their mu- 
tual dealings and communication, as a term 
less calculated to wound their feelings and 
to beget a spirit of animosity than the other; 
but, however it might have originated, New 
Castilian, in course of time, became a term 
of little less infamy than Gitano; for, by the 
law of Philip the Fourth, both terms are for- 
bidden to be applied to them under severe 
penalties. 

That they were called Germans may be 
accounted for either by the supposition that 
their generic name of Rommany was misun- 
derstood and mispronounced by the Spa- 
niards, amongst whom they came, or from 
the fact of their having passed through Ger- 
many in their way to the south, and their 
bearing passports and letters of safety from 
the various German states. The title of Fle- 
mings, by which at the present day they are 
known in various parts of Spain, would pro- 
bably never have been bestowed upon them 
but from the circumstance of their having 
been designated or believed to be Germans 
as German and Fleming are considered by 
the ignorant as synonymous terms. 

Amongst themselves they have three words 
to distinguish them and their race in gene- 
ral : Zincalo, Romano, and Chai ; of the first 
two of which something has been already 
said. 

They likewise call themselves "Cales," 
by which appellation indeed they are tolera- 



bly well known by the Spaniards, and which 
is merely the plural termination of the com* 
pound word Zincalo, and signifies, The black 
men. Chai is a modification of the word 
Chal, which, by the Gitanos of Estremadura r 
is applied to Egypt, and in many parts of 
Spain is equivalent to " Heaven," and which 
is perhaps a modification of " Cheros," the 
word for heaven in other dialects of the Gyp- 
sy language. Thus Chai may denote, The 
men of Egypt, or, The sons of Heaven. It 
is, however, right to observe, that amongst 
the Gitanos, the word Chai has frequently 
no other signification than the simple one of 
" children." 

It is impossible to state for certainty the 
exact year of their first appearance in Spam ; 
but it is reasonable to presume that it was 
early in the fifteenth century ; as in the year 
1417 numerous bands entered France from 
the north-east of Europe, and speedily spread 
themselves over the greatest part of that 
country. Of these wanderers a French au- 
thor has left the following graphic descrip- 
tion :* — . . 

"On the 17th of April, 1427, appeared in 
Paris twelve penitents of Egypt, driven from 
thence by the Saracens; they brought in 
their company one hundred and twenty per- 
sons ; they took up their quarters in La Cha- 
pelle, whither the people flocked in crowds 
to visit them. They had their ears pierced, 
from which depended a ring of silver; their 
hair was black and crispy, and their women 
were filthy to a degree, and were sorceresses 
who told fortunes." 

Such were the people, who, after tra- 
versing France and scaling the sides of the 
Pyrenees, poured down in various bands 
upon the sun-burnt plains of Spain. Wherever 
they had appeared they had been looked 
upon as a curse and a pestilence, and with 
much reason. Either unwilling or unable to 
devote themselves to any laborious or useful 
occupation, they came like flights of wasps 
to prey upon the fruits which their more in- 
dustrious fellow beings amassed by the toil 
of their hands and the sweat of their fore- 
heads ; the natural result being, that wherever 
they arrived, their follow creatures banded 
themselves against them. Terrible laws 
were enacted soon after their appearance ID 
France, calculated to put a stop to their 



* As quoted by Hcrvas 
vol. iii. p. 30G. 



Catalogo dc las Lenguas, 

15 



16 



THE ZINCALI. 



frauds and dishonest propensities; wherever 
their hordes were found they were attacked 
by the incensed rustics or by the armed hand 
of justice, and those who were not massacred 
on the spot, or could not escape by flight, 
were, without a shadow of trial, either hanged 
on the next tree, or sent to serve for life in 
the galleys ; or if females or children, either 
scourged or mutilated. 

The consequence of this severity, which, 
considering the manners and spirit of the 
time, is scarcely to be wondered at, was the 
speedy disappearance of the Gypsies from 
the soil of France. 

Many returned by the way they came, to 
Germany, Hungary, and the woods and fo- 
rests of Bohemia, but there is little doubt 
that by far the greatest portion found a refuge 
in the Peninsula, a country which, though by 
no means so rich and fertile as the one they 
had quitted, nor offering so wide and ready a 
field for the exercise of those fraudulent arts 
for which their race had become so infa- 
mously notorious, was nevertheless, in many 
respects, suitable and congenial to them. If 
there were less gold and silver in the purses 
of the citizens to reward the dexterous han- 
dler of the knife and scissors amidst the 
crowd in the market place; if fewer sides of 
fatted swine graced the ample chimney of 
the labourer in Spain, than in the neighbour- 
ing country ; if fewer beeves bellowed in the 
plains, and fewer sheep bleated upon the 
hills, there were far better opportunities 
afforded of indulging in wild independence. 
Should the halberded bands of the city be 
ordered out to quell, seize, or exterminate 
them ; should the alcalde of the village cause 
the tocsin to be rung, gathering together the 
villanos for a similar purpose, the wild sierra 
was generally at hand, which, with its wind- 
ing paths, its caves, its frowning precipices, 
and ragged thickets, would offer to them a 
secure refuge where they might laugh to 
scorn the rage of their baffled pursuers, and 
from which they might emerge either to 
fresh districts or to those which they had 
left, to repeat their ravages when opportunity 
served. 

After crossing the Pyrenees, a very short 
time elapsed before the Gypsy hordes had 
bivouacked in the principal provinces of 
Spain. There can, indeed, be little doubt 
that, shortly after their arrival, they made 
themselves perfectly acquainted with all the 
secrets of the land, and that there was scarce- 
ly a nook or retired corner within Spain, 
from which the smoke of their fires had not 
arisen, or where their cattle had not grazed. 
People, however, so acute as they have al- 
ways .proverbially been, would scarcely be 
slow in distinguishing the provinces most 
adapted to their manner of life, and most 
calculated to afford them opportunities of 
practising those arts to which they were 
mainly indebted for their subsistence ; the 
savage hills of Biscay, of Galicia, and the 
Asturias, whose inhabitants were almost as 
poor as themselves, which possessed no 



superior breed of horses or mules, from 
amongst which they might pick and purloin 
many a gallant beast, and having transformed 
by their dexterous scissors, impose him 
again upon his rightful master for a high 
price, — such provinces, where, moreover, 
provisions were hard to be obtained, even by 
pilfering hands, could scarcely be supposed 
to offer strong temptations to these roving 
visiters to settle down in, or to vex and 
harass by a long sojourn. 

Valencia and Murcia found far more favour 
in their eyes; a far more fertile soil, and 
wealthier inhabitants, were better calculated 
to entice them ; there was a prospect of 
plunder, and likewise a prospect of safety 
and refuge, should the dogs of justice be 
roused against them. If there were the popu- 
lous town and village in those lands, there 
was likewise the lone waste, and uncultivated 
spot, to which they could retire when danger 
threatened them. Still more suitable to them 
must have been La Mancha, a land of tillage, 
of horses, and of mules, skirted by its brown 
sierra, ever eager to afford its shelter to their 
dusky race. Equally suitable, Estremadura 
and New Castile; but far, far more, Andalu- 
sia, with its three kingdoms, Jaen, Granada, 
and Seville, one of which was still possessed 
by the swarthy Moor — Andalusia, the land 
of the proud steed and the stubborn mule, 
the land of the savage sierra and the fruitful 
and cultivated plain : to Andalusia they hied, 
in bands ot thirties and sixties; the hoofs of 
their asses might be heard clattering in the 
passes of the stony hills; the girls might be 
seen bounding in lascivious dance in the 
streets of many a town, and the beldames 
standing beneath the eaves telling the "bue- 
na ventura" to many a credulous female 
dupe ; the men the while chaffered in the fair 
and market-place with the labourers and cha- 
lanes, casting significant glances on each 
other, or exchanging a word or two in Rom- 
many, whilst they placed some uncouth ani- 
mal in a particular posture which served to 
conceal its ugliness from the eyes of the 
chapman. Yes, of all provinces of Spain, 
Andalusia was the most frequented by the 
Gitano race, and in Andalusia they most 
abound at the present day, though no longer 
as restless independent wanderers of the 
fields and hills, but as residents in villages 
and towns, — especially in Seville. 



CHAPTER II. 

MANNER OF LIFE. PREDATORY HABITS. 

THE TRAVELLER. — JEWS AND GYPSIES. 

THE FORGE. — THE SPARKS. — GYPSY 

COUNTS. MARTIN DEL RIO. — FACILITY 

IN SPEAKING LANGUAGES. PROVERBS- 

Having already stated to the reader at 
what period and by what means these wan- 



PREDATORY HABITS. 



17 



derers introduced themselves into Spain, we 
shall now say something concerning their 
manner of life. 

It would appear that, for many years after 
their arrival in the Peninsula, their manners 
and habits underwent no change; they were 
wanderers, in the strictest sense of the word, 
and lived much in the same way as their 
brethren exist in the present day in England, 
Russia, and Bessarabia, with the exception 
perhaps of being more reckless, mischievous, 
and having less respect for the laws ; it is 
true that their superiority in wickedness in 
these points may have been more the effect 
of the moral state of the country in which 
they were, than of any other operating cause. 

Arriving in Spain with a predisposition to 
every species of crime and villany, they were 
not likely to be improved or reclaimed by the 
example of the people with whom they were 
about to mix ; nor was it probable that they 
would entertain much respect for laws which, 
from time immemorial, have principally 
served, not to protect the honest and useful 
members of society, but to enrich those in- 
trusted with the administration of them. 
Thus, if they came thieves, it was not pro- 
bable that they would become ashamed of 
the title of thief in Spain, where the officers 
of justice were ever willing to shield an of- 
fender on receiving the iargest portion of the 
booty obtained. If on their arrival they 
held the lives of others in very low estima- 
tion, could it be expected that they would 
become gentle as lambs in a land where 
blood had its price, and the shedder of blood 
was seldom executed unless he was poor and 
friendless, and unable to cram with ounces 
of yellow gold the greedy hands of the pur- 
suers of blood, — the alguazil and escribano; 
therefore, if the Spanish Gypsies have been 
more bloody and more wolfishly eager in the 
pursuit of booty than those of their race in 
most other regions, the cause must be attri- 
buted to their residence in a country unsound 
in every branch of its civil polity, where 
right has ever been in less esteem, and wrong 
in less disrepute, than in any other part of 
the world. 

However, if the moral state of Spain was 
not calculated to have a favourable effect on 
the habits and pursuits of the Gypsies, their 
manners were as little calculated to operate 
beneficially, in any point of view, on the 
country where they had lately arrived. Di- 
vided into numerous bodies, frequently for- 
midable in point of number, their presence 
was an evil and a curse in whatever quarter 
they directed their steps. As might be ex- 
pected, the labourers, who in all countries 
are the most honest, most useful and merito- 
rious class, were the principal sufferers ; their 
mules and horses were stolen, carried away 
to distant fairs, and there disposed of, per- 
haps, to individuals destined to be deprived 
of them in a similar manner; whilst their 
flocks of sheep and goats were laid under 
requisition to assuage the hungry cravings of 
these thievish cormorants. 

C 



It was not uncommon for a large band or 
tribe to encamp in the vicinity of a remote 
village scantily peopled, and to remain there 
until, like a flight of locusts, they had con- 
sumed every thing which the inhabitants 
possessed for their support; or until they 
were scared away by the approach of justice, 
or by an army of rustics assembled from the 
surrounding country. Then would ensue the 
hurried march; the women and children, 
mounted on lean but spirited asses, would 
scour along the plains fleeter than the wind; 
ragged and savage-looking men, wielding 
the scourge and goad, would scamper by 
their side or close behind, whilst perhaps a 
small party on strong horses, armed with 
rusty matchlocks or sabres, would bring up 
the rear, threatening the distant foe, and 
now and then saluting them with a hoarse 
blast from the Gypsy horn : — 

" O, when I sit my courser bold, 

My bantling in my rear, 
And in my hand my musket hold— 

O how they quake with fear." 

Let us for a moment suppose some unfor- 
tunate traveller, mounted on a handsome 
mule or beast of some value, meeting, un- 
armed and alone, such a rabble rout at the 
close of eve, in the wildest part, for example, 
of La Mancha; we will suppose that he is 
journeying from Seville to Madrid, and that 
he has left, at a considerable distance behind 
him, the gloomy and horrible passes of the 
Sierra Morena; his bosom, which, for some 
time past, has been contracted with dreadful 
forebodings, is beginning to expand ; his 
blood, which had been congealed in his veins, 
is beginning to circulate warmly and freely ; 
he is fondly anticipating the still distant Po- 
sada and savoury omelet. The sun is sink- 
ing rapidly behind the savage and uncouth 
hills in his rear; he has reached the bottom 
of a small valley, where runs a rivulet at 
which he allows his tired animal to drink ; he 
is about to ascend the side of the bill; his 
eyes are turned upwards; suddenly he be- 
holds strange and uncouth forms at the top 
of the ascent — the sun descending slants its 
rays upon red cloaks, with here and there a 
turbaned head, or long streaming hair. The 
traveller hesitates, but reflecting that he is 
no longer in the mountains, and that in the. 
open road there is no danger of banditti, he- 
advances. In a moment he is in the midst 
of the Gypsy group, in a moment there is a 
general halt ; fiery eyes are turned upon him 
replete with an expression which only the 
eyes of the Roma possess, then ensues a 
jabber in a language or jargon which is strange 
to the ears of the traveller, at last an ugly 
urchin springs from the crupper of a halting 
mule, and in a lisping accent entreats charity 
in the name of the Virgin and the Majoro. 
The traveller, with a faltering hand, produces 
his purse, and is proceeding to loosen its 
strings, but he accomplishes not his purpose, 
for struck violently by a huge knotted club 
in an unseen hand, he tumbles headlong from 
his mule. Next morning a naked corse, be- 



18 



THE ZINCALI. 



smeared with brains and blood, is found by 
an arriero : and within a week a simple cross 
records the event, according to the custom 
of Spain. 

" Below there in the dusky pass 
Was wrought a murder dread; 

The murdered fell upon the grass, 
Away the murderer fled." 

To many, such a scene as above described, 
will appear purely imaginary, or at least a 
mass of exaggeration, but many such anec- 
dotes are related by old Spanish writers of 
these people ; they traversed the country in 
gangs ; they were what the Spanish law has 
styled Abigeos and Salteadores de Camino, 
cattle-stealers and highwaymen ; though, in 
the latter character, they never rose to any 
considerable eminence. True it is that they 
would not hesitate to attack or even murder 
the unarmed and defenceless traveller, when 
they felt assured of obtaining booty with little 
or no risk to themselves; but they were not 
by constitution adapted to rival those bold 
and daring banditti of whom so many terrible 
anecdotes are related in Spain and Italy, and 
who have acquired their renown by the daunt- 
less daring which they have invariably dis- 
played in the pursuit of plunder. 

The Gypsies, though not cowardly, and 
capable of meeting death, when inevitable, 
with as much resolution as any people in 
the world, have no abstract love for danger, 
and none of that chivalrous spirit which is 
as often found in the bandit chief as in the 
leader of mighty armies ; their leading pas- 
sion is gain, but only by fraudulent and in- 
significant means, for, in general, their minds 
are incapable of conceiving any great and 
extensive project. In some points they re- 
semble the Jews ; they have perhaps some of 
the same feeling which has ever prevented 
the latter from excelling as warriors, for 
though their history is the most ancient and 
most authentic of any, w r e can find amongst 
them no character who has excelled in war- 
like qualities, and in whose life and death the 
poet would find food for his muse, if we ex- 
cept Saul and his son Jonathan, the latter of 
whom is the most brave and amiable, and the 
former the most singularly romantic charac- 
ter in the annals of the Jewish race. The 
Jew, again, is equally rapacious as the Gyp- 
sy; but oh, what a difference in the means 
which he adopts for satisfying his craving for 
gold ! How stupendous are his plans, and 
how vast are the mental resources which he 
displays in putting them into execution ! And 
our wonder increases when we reflect that 
some of the very individuals, whose whole 
life and energy seemed to be solely devoted 
to piling up gold and acquiring fortunes, 
which the haughtiest kings have envied, were 
men profoundly versed in learning the most 
mystical, singular, and bewildering, learning 
in comparison with which the lore of the 
Buddhists and Brahmins is simple and easy; 
6uch is the Rabbinical with its dusky cabala. 
The most profound of the Rabbins was Abar- 
bcr.°l, the Spanish Jew, the confidant and 



adviser of the most powerful monarchs of 
his time, and who acquired at different pe- 
riods of his life three fortunes, each so gi- 
gantic, as never to have been rivalled by the 
riches of any one of his brethren, however 
great, either before or since. 

Besides trafficking in horses and mules, 
and now and then attacking and plundering 
travellers upon the highway, the Gypsies of 
Spain appear, from a very early period, to 
have plied occasionally the trade of the black- 
smith, and to have worked in iron, forming 
rude implements of domestic and agricultural 
use, which they disposed of, either for pro- 
visions or money, in the neighbourhood of 
those places where they had taken up their 
temporary residence. As their bands were 
composed of numerous individuals, there is 
no improbability in assuming that to every 
member was allotted that branch of labour 
in which he was most calculated to excel. 
The most important, and that which required 
the greatest share of cunning and address, 
was undoubtedly that of the chalan or jockey, 
who frequented the fairs with the beasts 
which he had obtained by various means, but 
generally by theft. Highway robbery, though 
occasionally committed by all jointly or seve- 
rally, was probably the peculiar department of 
the boldest spirits of the gang; whilst wield- 
ing the hammer and tongs was abandoned 
to those who, though possessed of athletic 
forms, were perhaps, like Vulcan, lame, or 
from some particular cause, moral or physical, 
unsuited for the other two very respectable 
avocations. The forge was generally placed 
in the heart of some mountain abounding in 
wood ; the gaunt smiths felled a tree, per- 
haps with the very axes which their own 
sturdy hands had hammered at a former pe- 
riod ; with the wood thus procured, they pre- 
pared the charcoal which their labour de- 
manded. Everything is in readiness; the 
bellows puff until the coal is excited to a 
furious glow; the metal hot, pliant, and duc- 
tile, is laid on the anvil, round which stands 
the Cyclop group, their hammers upraised; 
down they descend successively one, two, 
three, the sparks are scattered on every side. 
The sparks — 

" More than a hundred lovely daughters I see produced 
at one time, fiery as roses, in one moment they expire 
gracefully circumvolving."* 

The anvil rings beneath the thundering 
stroke, hour succeeds hour, and still endures 
the hard sullen toil. 

One of the most remarkable features in the 
history of Gypsies is the striking similarity 
of their pursuits in every region of the globe 
to which they have penetrated ; they are not 
merely alike in limb and in feature, in the 
cast and expression of the eye, in the colour 
of the hair, in their walk and gait, but every 



• We have found this beautiful metaphor both in Gyp- 
sy and Spanish; it runs thus in the former language;— 
" Las Muchis. (The Sparks.) 

" Bus de eres chabalas orchiris man dique a yes chiro 
purelar sistilias sata rujins, y or sisli c&rjibal diuando 
trutas discandaa." 



THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGRONO. 



19 



where they seem to exhibit the same ten- 
dencies, and to hunt for their bread by the 
same means as if they were not of the human 
but rather of the animal species, and in lieu 
of reason were endowed with a kind of in- 
stinct which assists them to a very limited 
extent and no farther. 

In no part of the world are they found en- 
gaged in the cultivation of the earth, or in the 
service of a regular master; but in all lands 
they are jockeys, or thieves, or cheats, and if 
ever they devote themselves to any toil or 
trade, it is assuredly in every material point 
one and the same. We have found them 
above, in the heart of a wild mountain, ham- 
mering iron, and manufacturing from it in- 
struments either for their own use or that of 
the neighbouring towns and villages. They 
may be seen employed in a similar manner in 
the plains of Russia, or in the bosom of its 
eternal forests ; and whoever inspects the 
site where a horde of Gypsies has encamped, 
in the grassy lanes beneath the hazel bushes 
of merry England, is generally sure to find 
relics of tin and other metal, avouching that 
they have there been exercising the arts of 
the tinker or smith. Perhaps nothing speaks 
more forcibly for the antiquity of this sect or 
caste than the tenacity with which they have 
uniformly preserved their peculiar customs, 
since the period of their becoming generally 
known ; for, unless their habits had become 
a part of their nature, which could only have 
been effected by a strict devotion to them 
through a long succession of generations, it 
is not to be supposed that after their arrival 
in civilized Europe they would have retained 
and cherished them, precisely in the same 
manner, in the various countries where they 
found an asylum. 

Each band or family of the Spanish Gypsies 
had its Captain, or, as he was generally de- 
signated, its Count. Don Juan de Quinones, 
who, in a small volume, published in 1632, 
has written some details respecting their way 
of life, says : " They roam about, divided into 
families and troops, each of which has its 
head or Count; and to fill this office they 
choose the most valiant and courageous in- 
dividual amongst them, and the one endowed 
with the greatest strength. He must at the 
same time be crafty and sagacious, and 
adapted in every respect to govern them. It 
is he who settles their differences and disputes, 
even when they are residing in a place where 
there is a regular justice. He heads them at 
night when they go out to plunder the flocks, 
or to rob travellers on the highway; and what- 
ever they steal or plunder they divide amongst 
them, always allowing the captain a third 
part of the whole." 

These Counts being elected for such quali- 
ties as promised to be useful to their troop or 
family, were consequently liable to be deposed 
if at any time their conduct was not calculated 
to afford satisfaction to their subjects. The 
office was not hereditary, and though it carried 
along with it partial privileges, was both toil- 
some and dangerous. Should the plans for 



plunder, which it was the duty of the Count 
to form, miscarry in the attempt to execute 
them ; should individuals of the gang fall into 
the hand of justice, and the Count be unable 
to devise a method to save their lives or ob- 
tain their liberty, the blame was cast at the 
Count's door, and he was in considerable 
danger of being deprived of his insignia of 
authority, which consisted not so much in 
ornaments or in dress, as in hawks and hounds 
with which the Senor Count took the diver- 
sion of hunting when he thought proper. As 
the ground which he hunted over was not his 
own, he incurred some danger of coming in 
contact with the lord of the soil, attended, 
perhaps, by his armed followers. There is a 
tradition, (rather apocryphal, it is true,) that 
a Gitano chief, once pursuing this amuse- 
ment, was encountered by a real Count, who 
is styled Count Pepe. An engagement en- 
sued between the two parties, which ended 
in the Gypsies being worsted, and their chief 
left dyingon the field. The slain chief leaves 
a son, who, at the instigation of his mother, 
steals the infant heir of his father's enemy, 
who, reared up amongst the Gypsies, becomes 
a chief, and, in process of time, hunting over 
the same ground, slays Count Pepe in the 
very spot where the blood of the Gypsy had 
been poured out. This tradition is alluded to 
in the following stanza: — 

" I have a gallant mare in stall, 

My mother gave that mare 
That I might seek Count Pepe's hall 

And steal his son and heir." 

Martin Del Rio, in his "Tractatus de 
Magia," speaks of the Gypsies and their 
Counts to the following effect: " When, in 
the year 1584, 1 was marching in Spain with 
the regiment, a multitude of these wretches 
were infesting the fields. It happened that 
the feast of Corpus Domini was being cele- 
brated, and they requested to be admitted into 
the town, that they might dance in honour of 
the sacrifice, as was customary; they did so, 
but about mid-day a great tumult arose, owing 
to the many thefts which the women com- 
mitted, whereupon they fled out of the su- 
burbs, and assembled about St. Mark's, the 
magnificent mansion and hospital of the 
knights of St. James, where the ministers of 
justice attempting to seize them were repulsed 
by force of arms ; nevertheless, all of a sud- 
den, and I know not how, every thing was 
hushed up. At this time they had a Count, 
a fellow who spoke the Castilian idiom with 
as much purity as if he had been a native of 
Toledo ; he was acquainted with all the ports 
of Spain, and all the difficult and broken 
ground of the provinces. He knew the exact 
strength of every city, and who were the 
principal people in each, and the exact amount 
of their property; there was nothing relating 
to the state, however secret, that he was not 
acquainted with ; nor did he make a mystery 
of his knowledge, but publicly boasted of it." 

From the passage quoted above, we learn 
that the Gitanos in the ancient times were 
considered as foreigners who prowled about 



20 



THE ZINCALI. 



the country; indeed, in many of the laws 
which at various times have been promulgated 
against them, they are spoken of as Egyptians, 
and as such commanded to leave Spain, and 
return to their native country; at one time 
they undoubtedly were foreigners in Spain, 
foreigners by birth, foreigners by language ; 
but at the time they are mentioned by the 
worthy Del Rio they were certainly not en- 
titled to the appellation. True it is that they 
spoke a language, amongst themselves, unin- 
telligible to the rest of the Spaniards, from 
whom they differed considerably in feature 
and complexion, as they still do; but if being 
born in a country, and being bred there, con- 
stitute a right to be considered a native of that 
country, they had as much claim to the ap- 
pellation of Spaniards as the worthy author 
himself. Del Rio mentions as a remarkable 
circumstance, the fact of the Gypsy Count 
speaking Castilian with as much purity as a 
native of Toledo, whereas it is by no means 
improbable that the individual in question 
was a native of that town ; but the truth is, 
at the time we are speaking of, they were in 
general believed to be not only foreigners, 
but by means of sorcery to have acquired the 
power of speaking all languages with equal 
facility; and Del Rio, who was a believer in 
magic, and wrote one of the most curious and 
erudite treatises on the subject ever penned, 
had perhaps adopted that idea, which possi- 
bly originated from their speaking most of 
the languages and dialects of the peninsula, 
which they picked up in their wanderings. 
That the Gypsy chief was so well ac- 
quainted with every town of Spain, and the 
broken and difficult ground, can cause but 
little surprise, when we reflect that the life 
which the Gypsies led, was one above all 
others calculated to afford them that know- 
ledge. They were continually at variance 
with justice, they were frequently obliged to 
seek shelter in the inmost recesses of the 
hills; and when their thievish pursuits led 
them to the cities, they naturally made them- 
selves acquainted with the names of the prin- 
cipal individuals, in hopes of plundering them. 
Doubtless the chief possessed all this species 
of knowledge in a superior degree, as it was 
his courage, acuteness, and experience alone 
which placed him at the head of his tribe, 
though Del Rio from this circumstance wishes 
to infer, that the Gitanos were spies sent by 
foreign foes, and with some simplicity inquires 
"Quo aut cui rei hsec curiosa exploratio? 
nonne compescenda vagamundorum hsBC cu- 
riositas, etiam si solum peregrini et inculpatse 
vitro." 

With the Counts rested the management 
and direction of these remarkable societies ; 
it was they who determined their marches, 
counter-marches, advances, and retreats ; 
what was to be attempted or avoided; what 
individuals were to be admit.fpd into the fel- 
lowship and privileges of the Gitanos, or who 
were to be excluded from their society; they 
settled disputes and sat in judgment over 
offences. The greatest crimes, according to 



the Gypsy code, were a quarrelsome disposi- 
tion, and revealing the secrets of the brother- 
hood. By this code the members were for- 
bidden to eat, drink, or sleep in the house of 
a Busno, which signifies any person who is 
not of the sect of the Gypsies, or to marry 
out of that sect; they were likewise not to 
teach the language of Roma to any but those 
who, by birth, or inauguration, belonged to 
that sect; they were enjoined to relieve their 
brethren in distress at any expense or peril ; 
they were to use a peculiar dress, which is 
frequently alluded to in the Spanish laws, but 
the particulars of which are not stated ; and 
they were to cultivate the gift of speech to 
the utmost possible extent, and never to lose 
any thing which might be obtained by a loose 
and deceiving tongue, to encourage which 
they had many excellent proverbs, for ex- 
ample — 

"The poor fool who closes his mouth never 
winneth a dollar." 

" The river which runneth with sound, bears 
along with it stones and water." 



CHAPTER III. 



EXCESSES OF THE GITANOS. — THE BOOKSELL- 
ER OF LOGRONO. 

The Gitanos not unfrequently made their 
appearance in considerable numbers, so as to 
be able to bid defiance to any force which 
could be assembled against them on a sudden ; 
whole districts thus became a prey to them, 
and were plundered and devastated. 

It is said that, in the year 1018, more than 
800 of these wretches scoured the country 
between Castile and Aragon, committing the 
most enormous crimes. The royal council 
despatched regular troops against them, who 
experienced some difficulty in dispersing 
them. 

But we now proceed to touch upon an event 
which forms an era in the history of the Gi- 
tanos of Spain, and which for wildness and 
singularity throws all other events connected 
with them and their race, wherever found, 
entirely into the shade. 

THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGRONO. 

About the middle of the sixteenth century, 
there resided one Francisco Alvarez in the 
city of Logrono, the chief town of Rioja, a 
province which borders on Aragon. He was 
a man above the middle age, sober, reserved, 
and in general absorbed in thought ; he lived 
near the great church, and obtained a liveli- 
hood by selling printed books and manuscripts 
in a small shop. He was a very learned man, 
and was continually reading in the books 
which he was in the habit of soiling, and some 
of these books were in foreign tongues and 
characters, so foreign indeed, that none but 
himself and some of his friends, the canons, 



THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGRONO. 



21 



could understand them ; he was much visited 
by the clergy, who were his principal custo- 
mers, and took much pleasure in listening to 
his discourse. 

He had been a considerable traveller in his 
youth, and had wandered through all Spain, 
visiting the various provinces and the most 
remarkable cities. 

It was likewise said that he had visited 
Italy and Barbary. He was, however, inva- 
riably silent with respect to his travels, and 
whenever the subject was mentioned to him, 
the gloom and melancholy increased which 
usually clouded his features. 

One day, in the commencement of autumn, 
he was visited by a priest, with whom he had 
long been intimate, and for whom he had 
always displayed a greater respect and liking 
than for any other acquaintance. The eccle- 
siastic found him even more sad than usual, 
and there was a haggard paleness upon his 
countenance which alarmed his visiter. The 
good priest made affectionate inquiries re- 
specting the health of his friend, and whether 
any thing had of late occurred to give him un- 
easiness; adding, at the same time, that he 
had long suspected that some secret Jay heavy 
upon his mind, which he now conjured him 
to reveal, as life was uncertain, and it was 
very possible that he might be quickly sum- 
moned from earth into the presence of his 
Maker. 

The bookseller continued for some time in 
gloomy meditation, till at last he broke silence 
in these words: — "It is true I have a secret 
which weighs heavy upon my mind, and which 
I am still loath to reveal ; but I have a pre- 
sentiment that my end is approaching, and 
that a heavy misfortune is about to fall upon 
this city : I will therefore unburden myself, 
for it were now a sin to remain silent. 

"I am, as you are aware, a native of this 
town, which I first left when I went to ac- 
quire an education at Salamanca ; ] continued 
there until I became a licentiate, when I 
quitted the university and strolled through 
Spain, supporting myself in general by touch- 
ing the guitar, according to the practice of 
penniless students; my adventures were nu- 
merous, and I frequently experienced great 
poverty. Once, whilst making my way from 
Toledo to Andalusia through the wild moun- 
tains, I fell in with and was made captive by 
a band of the people called Gitanos, or wan- 
dering Egyptians; they in general lived 
amongst these wilds, and plundered or mur- 
dered every person whom they met. I should 
probably have been assassinated by them, but 
my skill in music perhaps saved my life. I 
continued with them a considerable time, till 
at last they persuaded me to become one of 
them, whereupon I was inaugurated into their 
society with many strange and horrid cere- 
monies, and having thus become a Gitano, I 
went with them to plunder and assassinate 
upon the roads. 

* " The Count or head man of these Gitanos 

had an only daughter, about my own age ; she 

was very beautiful, but, at the same time, ex- 

4 C 



ceedingly strong and robust; this Gitana was 
given to me as a wife or cadjee, and I lived 
with her several years, and she bore me chil- 
dren. 

"My wife was an arrant Gitana, and in 
her all the wickedness of her race seemed to 
be concentrated. At last her father was 
killed in an affray with the troopers of the 
Hermandad, whereupon my wife and myself 
succeeded to the authority which he had 
formerly exercised in the tribe. We had at 
first loved each other, but at last the Gitano 
life, with its accompanying wickedness, be- 
coming hateful to my eyes, my wife, who 
was not slow in perceiving my altered dispo- 
sition, conceived for me the most deadly ha- 
tred ; apprehending that I meditated with- 
drawing myself from the society, and perhaps 
betraying the secrets of the band, she formed 
a conspiracy against hip, and, at one time, be- 
ing opposite the Moorish coast, I was seized 
and bound by the other Gitanos, conveyed 
across the sea, and delivered as a slave into 
the hands of the Moors. 

"I continued for a long time in slavery in 
various parts of Morocco and Fez, until I was 
at length redeemed from my state of bondage 
by a missionary friar who paid my ransom. 
With him I shortly after departed for Italy, 
of which he was a native. In that country I 
remained some years, until a longing to re- 
visit my native land seized me, when I re- 
turned to Spain and established myself here, 
where I have since lived by vending books, 
many of which I brought from the strange 
lands which I visited. I kept my history, 
however, a profound secret, being afraid of 
exposing myself to the laws in force against 
the Gitanos, to which I should instantly be- 
come amenable were it once known that I 
had at any time been a member of this de- 
testable sect. 

" My present wretchedness, of which you 
have demanded the cause, dates from yester- 
day; I had been on a short journey to the Au- 
gustine convent, which stands on the plain in 
the direction of Saragossa, carrying with me 
an Arabian book, which a learned monk was 
desirous of seeing. Night overtook me ere 
I could return. I speedily lost my way, and 
wandered about until I came near a dilapi- 
dated edifice with which I was acquainted ; I 
was about to proceed in the direction of the 
town, when I heard voices within the ruined 
walls ; I listened, and recognised the lan- 
guage of the abhorred Gitanos ; I was about 
to fly, when a word arrested me. It was 
Drao, which in their tongue signifies the hor- 
rid poison, with which this race are in the 
habit of destroying the cattle : they now said 
that the men of Logrono should rue the Drao 
which they had been casting. I heard no 
more, but fled. What increased my fear was, 
that in the words spoken, I thought I recog- 
nised the peculiar jargon of my own tribe; 
I repeat, that 1 believe some horrible misfor- 
tune is overhanging this city, and that my 
own days are numbered." 

The priest, having conversed with him for 



22 



THE ZINCALI. 



some time upon particular points of the his- 
tory that he had related, took his leave, ad- 
vising him to compose his spirits, as he saw 
no reason why he should indulge in such 
gloomy forebodings. 

The very next day a sickness broke out in 
the town of Logrono. It was one of a pecu- 
liar kind ; unlike most others, it did not arise 
by slow and gradual degrees, but at once ap- 
peared in full violence, in the shape of a ter- 
rific epidemic. Dizziness in the head was 
the first symptom ; then convulsive retch- 
ings, followed by a dreadful struggle between 
life and death, which generally terminated in 
favour of the grim destroyer. The bodies, 
after the spirit which animated them had 
taken flight, were frightfully swollen, and ex- 
hibited a dark blue colour, chequered with 
crimson spots. Nothing was heard within 
the houses or the streets but groans of agony; 
no remedy was at hand, and the powers of 
medicine were exhausted in vain upon this 
terrible pest; so that within a few days the 
greatest part of the inhabitants of Logrono 
had perished. The bookseller had not been 
seen since the commencement of this fright- 
ful visitation. 

Once, at the dead of night, a knock was 
heard at the door of the priest, of whom we 
have already spoken; the priest himself stag- 
gered to the door, and opened it, — he was 
the only one who remained alive in the house, 
and was himself slowly recovering from the 
malady which had destroyed all the other in- 
mates; a wild spectral-looking figure pre- 
sented itself to his eye — it was his friend, 
Alvarez. Both went into the house, when 
the bookseller, glancing gloomily on the 
wasted features of the priest, exclaimed, 
" You too, I see, amongst others, have cause 
to rue the Drao which the Gitanos have cast. 
Know," he continued, "that in order to ac- 
complish a detestable plan, the fountains of 
Logrono have been poisoned by emissaries 
of the roving bands, who are now assembled 
in the neighbourhood. On the first appear- 
ance of the disorder, from which I happily 
escaped by tasting the water of a private 
fountain, which I possess in my own house, 
I instantly recognised the effects of the poi- 
son of the Gitanos, brought by their ances- 
tors from the isles of the Indian sea, and in- 
stantly suspecting their intentions, I disguised 
myself as a Gitano, and went forth in the hope 
of being able to act as a spy upon their actions. 
I have been successful, and am at present tho- 
roughly acquainted with their designs. They 
intended, from the first, to sack the town, as 
soon as it should have been emptied of its 
defenders. 

" Mid-day, to-morrow, is the hour in which 
they have determined to make the attempt. 
There is no time to be lost ; let us, there- 
fore, warn those of our townsmen who still 
survive, in order that they may make prepa- 
rations for their defence." 

Whereupon the two friends proceeded to 
the chief magistrate, who had been but slight- 
ly affected by the disorder ; he heard the tale 



of the bookseller with horror and astonish- 
ment, and instantly took the best measures 
possible for frustrating the designs of the Gi- 
tanos ; all the men capable of bearing arms 
in Logrono were assembled, and weapons of 
every description put in their hands. By the 
advice of the bookseller, all the gates of the 
town were shut, with the exception of the 
principal one; and the little band of defend- 
ers, which barely amounted to sixty men, 
was stationed in the great square, to which, 
he said, it was the intention of the Gitanos 
to penetrate in the first instance, and then 
dividing themselves into various parties, to 
sack the place. The bookseller was, by ge- 
neral desire, constituted leader of the guar- 
dians of the town. 

It was considerably past noon ; the sky 
was overcast, and tempest clouds, fraught 
with lightning and thunder, were hanging 
black and horrid over the town of Logrono. 
The little troop, resting on their arms, stood 
awaiting the arrival of their unnatural ene- 
mies ; rage fired their minds as they thought 
of the deaths of their fathers, their sons, and 
their dearest relatives, who had perished, not 
by the hand of God, but, like infected cattle, 
by the hellish arts of Egyptian sorcerers. 
They longed for their appearance, determined 
to wreak upon them a bloody revenge ; not 
a word was uttered, and profound silence 
reigned around, only interrupted by the oc- 
casional muttering of the thunder clouds. 
Suddenly, Alvarez, who had been intently 
listening, raised his hand with a significant 
gesture ; presently, a sound was heard — a 
rustling like the waving of trees, or the rush- 
ing of distant water; it gradually increased, 
and seemed to proceed from the narrow street 
which led from the principal gate into the 
square. All eyes were turned in that di- 
rection 

That night there was repique or ringing of 
bells in the towers of Logrono, and the few 
priests who had escaped from the pestilence 
sang litanies to God and the Virgin for the 
salvation of the town from the hands of the 
heathen. The attempt of the Gitanos had 
been most signally defeated, and the great 
square and the street were strewn with their 
corses. Oh! what frightful objects: there 
lay grim men more black than mulattos with 
fury and rage in their stiffened features ; wild 
women in extraordinary dresses, their hair, 
black and long as the tail of the horse, spread 
all dishevelled upon the ground ; and gaunt 
and naked children grasping knives and dag- 
gers in their tiny hands. Of the patriotic 
troop not one appeared to have fallen ; and 
when, after their enemies had retreated with 
howlings of fiendish despair, they told their 
numbers, only one man was missing, who 
was never seen again, and that man was Al- 
varez. 

In the midst of the combat, the tempest, 
which had for a long time been gathering, 
burst over Logrono in lightning, thunder, 
darkness, and vehement hail. 

A man of the town asserted that the last 



GYPSY COLONIES. 



£3 



time he had seen Alvarez, the latter was far 
in advance of his companions, defending- him- 
self desperately against three powerful young 
heathen, who seemed to be acting under the 
direction of a tall woman who stood nigh, 
covered with barbaric ornaments, and wear- 
ing on her head a rude silver crown.* 

Such is the tale of the Bookseller of Lo- 
grofio, and such is the narrative of the at- 
tempt of the Gitanos to sack the town in the 
time of pestilence, which is alluded to by 
many Spanish authors, but more particularly 
by the learned Francisco De Cordova, in his 
Didascalia, one of the most curious and in- 
structive books within the circle of universal 
literature. 



CHAPTER IV. 

| GYPSY COLONIES IN VARIOUS TOWNS OF 
SPAIN. 

The Moors, after their subjugation, and 
previous to their expulsion from Spain, ge- 
nerally resided apart, principally in the su- 
burbs of the towns, where they kept each 
other in countenance, being hated and de- 
spised by the Spaniards, and persecuted on 
all occasions. By this means they preserved, 
to a certain extent, the Arabic language, 
though the use of it was strictly forbidden, 
and encouraged each other in the secret ex- 
ercise of the rites of the Mahometan religion, 
so that, until the moment of their final ex- 
pulsion, they continued Moors in almost 
every sense of the word. Such places were 
called Morerias, or quarters of the Moors. 

In like manner there were Gitanerias, or 
quarters of the Gitanos, in many of the towns 
of Spain ; and in more than one instance par- 
ticular barrios or districts are still known by 
this name, though the Gitanos themselves 
have long since disappeared. Even in the 
town of Oviedo, in the heart of the Asturias, 
a province never famous for Gitanos, there 
is a place called the Gitaneria, though no 
Gitano has been known to reside in the town 
within the memory of man, nor indeed been 
seen, save, perhaps, as a chance visiter at a 
fair. 

The exact period when the Gitanos first 
formed these colonies within the towns is 
not known ; the laws, however, which com- 
manded them to abandon their wandering 
life under penalty of banishment and death, 
and to become stationary in towns, may have 
induced them first to take such a step. By 
the first of these laws, which was made by 

♦In the above little tale the writer confesses that there 
are many things purely imaginary ; the most material 
point, however, the attempt to sack the town during the 
pestilence, which was defeated by the courage and acti- 
vity of an individual, rests on historical evidence the 
most satisfactory. It is thus mentioned in the work of 
Francisco De Cordova, (he was surnamed Cordova from 
having been for many years canon in that city:}— 

" Annis praUerilis luliobrigam urhem, vulgo Logrono, 
pestilenti iahorantem morbo.et hominibus vacunm inva- 
dere hi ac diripere tentarunt.perfecissentque ni DeusO. 
M. cuiusdam bibhopola opera, in eorum capita, quam urbi 
moliebantur perniciem avertisset." Didascalia, Lueduni. 
1615. 1 vol. 8vo., p. 405, cap. 50. 



Ferdinand and Isabella, as far back as the 
year 1499, they are commanded to seek out 
for themselves masters. This injunction they 
utterly disregarded. Some of them, for fear 
of the law, or from the hope of bettering their 
condition, may have settled down in the 
towns, cities, and villages for a time, but to 
expect that a people in whose bosoms was 
so deeply rooted the love of lawless inde- 
pendence, would subject themselves to the 
yoke of servitude, from any motive what- 
ever, was going too far: as well might it 
have been expected, according to the words 
of the great poet of Persia, that they would 
have washed their skins white. 

In these Gitanerias, therefore, many Gypsy 
families resided, but ever in the Gypsy fa- 
shion, in filth and in misery, with little of the 
fear of man, and nothing of the fear of God 
before their eyes. Here the swarthy children 
basked naked in the sun before the doors; 
here the women prepared love draughts, or 
told the buena ventura; and here the men 
plied the trade of the blacksmith, a forbidden 
occupation, or prepared for sale, by disguising 
them, animals stolen by themselves or their 
accomplices. In these places were harboured 
the strange Gitanos on their arrival, and here 
were discussed in the Rommany language, 
which, like the Arabic, was forbidden under 
severe penalties, plans of fraud and plunder, 
which were perhaps intended to be carried 
into effect in a distant province and a distant 
city. 

The great body, however, of the Gypsy 
race in Spain continued independent wan- 
derers of the plains and the mountains, and 
indeed the denizens of the Gitanerias were 
continually sallying forth, either for the pur- 
pose of re-uniting themselves with the wan- 
dering tribes, or of strolling about from town 
to town and from fair to fair. Hence the 
continual complaints in the Spanish laws 
against the Gitanos who have left their 
places of domicil, from doing which they 
were indicted, even as they were interdicted 
from speaking their language and following 
the occupations of the blacksmith and horse- 
dealer, to all which they still cling even to 
the present day. 

The Gitanerias at evening fall were fre- 
quently resorted to by individuals widely 
differing in station from the inmates of these 
places, — we allude to the young and disso- 
lute nobility and hidalgos of Spain. This 
was generally the time of mirth and festival, 
and the Gitanos, male and female, danced 
and sang in the Gypsy fashion beneath the 
smile of the moon. The Gypsy women and 
girls were the principal attractions to these 
visiters; wild and singular as these females 
are in their appearance, there can be no 
doubt, for the fact has been frequently proved, 
that they are capable of exciting passion of 
the most ardent description, particularly in 
the bosoms of those who are not of their 
race, which passion of course becomes the 
more violent when the almost utter impossi- 
bility of gratifying it is known. No females 



24 



THE ZINCALI. 



in the world can be more licentious in word 
and gesture, in dance and in song, than the 
Gitanos; but there they stop: and so of old, 
if their titled visiters presumed to seek for 
more, an unsheathed dagger or gleaming 
knife speedily repulsed those who expected 
that the gem most dear amongst the sect of 
the Roma was within the reach of a Busno. 

Such visiters, however, were always en- 
couraged to a certain point, and by this and 
various other means, the Gitanos acquired 
connexions which frequently stood them in 
good stead in the hour of need. What 
availed it to the honest labourers of the 
neighbourhood, or the citizens of the town, 
to make complaints to the corregidor con- 
cerning the thefts and frauds committed by 
the Gitanos, when perhaps the sons of that 
very corregidor frequented the nightly dances 
at the Gitaneria, and were deeply enamoured 
with some of the dark-eyed singing girls? 
What availed making complaints, when per- 
haps a Gypsy sibyl, the mother of those very 
girls, had free admission to the house of the 
corregidor at all times and seasons, and 
spaed the good fortune to his daughters, pro- 
mising them counts and dukes, and Andalu- 
sian knights in marriage, or prepared phil- 
ters for his lady by which she was always to 
reign supreme in the affections of her hus- 
band? And, above all, what availed it to the 
plundered party to complain that his mule or 
horse had been, stolen, when the Gitano rob- 
ber, perhaps the husband of the sibyl and the 
father of the black-eyed Gitanillas, was at 
that moment actually in treaty with my lord 
the corregidor himself, for supplying him 
with some splendid thick-maned, long-tailed 
steed, at a small price, to be obtained, as the 
reader may well suppose, by an infraction of 
the laws? The favour and protection which 
the Gitanos experienced from people of high 
rank, is alluded to in the Spanish laws, and 
>can only be accounted for by the motives 
above detailed. 

The Gitanerias were soon considered as 
public nuisances, on which account the Gi- 
tanos were forbidden to live together in par- 
ticular parts of the town, to hold meetings, 
and even to intermarry with each other; yet 
it does not appear that the Gitanerias were 
ever suppressed by the arm of the law, as 
many still exist where these singular beings 
M marry and are given in marriage," and 
meet together to discuss their affairs, which, 
in their opinion, never flourish unless those 
of their fellow creatures suffer. So much 
for the Gitanerias, or Gypsy colonies, in the 
towns of Spain. 



CHAPTER V. 

EXTRACTS FROM ANCIENT SPANISH WRITERS. 

LA OITANILLA, A TALE OF CERVANTES. — 

THE ALONSO OF OERONIMO DE ALCALA. 

"It would appear that the Gitanos and 
Gitanas were only sent into this world to be 



thieves; they are born thieves; they are 
brought up amongst thieves, they study to be 
thieves, and finally they turn out thieves, 
going about and making victims of all the 
world; the love of thievery and the practice 
of thievery are in them constitutional mala- 
dies, which cleave to them till the day of 
their death." 

These words, or similar ones, serve as the 
exordium to the Gitanilla or Gypsy Girl of 
Cervantes, who immediately proceeds to in- 
troduce his heroine by saying, "An old hag 
of this nation who had certainly taken the 
degree of Doctoress in the science of Cacus, 
reared up a young girl whom she called her 
grand-daughter," &c. 

The tale of " The Gypsy girl " was written 
by Cervantes in the year 1612, and stands 
the first in that collection of beautiful fictions, 
generally styled " Novelas Exemplares." At 
the present day the Gypsy is the most popu- 
lar perhaps of all the works of Cervantes 
amongst his countrymen; it being rare to 
find an individual who has not read it or 
heard it read. Whilst Cervantes lived, few 
people cared about him or his works ; it was 
not till some time subsequent to his death, 
that Spain began to take much interest in 
either; she then discovered that she had pro- 
duced and permitted to starve, a wonderful 
genius, quite equal in his peculiar style to 
Dante in his own. She has lately "given 
him a stone"* to whom she once refused 
bread, and for the last hundred years has 
occasionally occupied herself in endeavour- 
ing to investigate whatever she deems likely 
to elucidate his life and writings. We shall 
offer no opinion as to how far she has been 
successful in her object, though there are 
some Spanish literati, who flatter themselves 
that all the passages in the life of Cervantes 
are at present known, with the exception of 
those which occurred during a short period, 
when he disappeared for a time, and conjec- 
ture only is able to follow his steps. 

Amongst other things said of this extraor- 
dinary man, it is asserted that he was in- 
duced to write the Gitanilla from the follow- 
ing circumstance. Shortly after the accession 
of Philip the Third to the throne, a Gypsy 
girl appeared in the streets of Madrid, like a 
wonderful cornet; she was surrounded by 
many females of the same race, in whose 
company she danced and sang; she was, 
however, distinguished from them all by her 
almost celestial beauty, the grace of her 
movements, and her surpassing powers of 
voice; crowds followed wherever she went, 
blessing and applauding her; gold and silver 
rained down upon her, and even the eye of 
royalty was turned towards her with appro- 
bation. The best poets of the day made 
verses which they entreated her to sing. 
Many of the young nobility became passion- 
ately enamoured of her, and an accomplished 
young courtier finally left the capital in her 

* A statue of Cervantes (not a colossal one") has be«n 
placed before the entrance to the Cortes, at Madrid, in 
the square generally termed the Plaza de Cervantes. 



LA GITANILLA. 



25 



company, and for love of her became a Gi- 
tano. She was subsequently discovered to 
be the daughter of a noble corregidor, having 
been stolen in her infancy by a Gypsy hag, 
who pretended to be her grandmother. She 
was of course honourably united to her faith- 
ful admirer. 

This account, however, is neither more 
nor less than the outline of the tale of Cer- 
vantes, and there is more reason to suppose 
that it originated from the tale, than that the 
latter originated from the pretended fact. 
Child-stealing has occasionally been prac- 
tised by GyrjVsies, but never without some 
immediate prospect of gain; they do not 
steal children for the sake of bringing them 
up as Gypsies ; they have plenty of their own, 
and bread is scarce amongst them. If those 
of Spain ever stole children, they were mar- 
ketable children, not squalling infants, but 
boys and girls of handsome features and of a 
certain age, who were intended not to be 
carried about to betray them, but to be sold 
to the Moors of Barbary. Child-stealing is 
generally imputed to the Gypsies of England, 
but undeservedly; they can scarcely support 
their own offspring, and would smile at the 
idea of incumbering themselves with the 
children of others. But their ancestors were 
certainly guilty of this practice, which was 
once highly profitable, when the white slave 
trade was carried on in the streets of London 
itself, and hundreds of individuals, "kid- 
napped," were annually conveyed from the 
shores of England to be sold to the planters 
on the banks of the Delaware; but here again 
be it observed, that the English Gypsies did 
not steal infants, but children of sufficient 
size and strength to support the toils and 
hardships of the servitude to which they 
were destined. 

The unfounded idea that Gypsies steal 
children to bring them up as Gypsies, has 
been the besetting sin of authors, who have 
attempted to found works of fiction* on the 
way oflife of this most singular people. The 
Preciosa of Cervantes, and the modern Es- 
meralda, eventually turn out to be "no Gyp- 
sies," but were stolen in their cradles and 
reared amongst the wild children of Roma. 
By pursuing this course, the writers only ex- 
hibit their incompetence to the subject which 
they pretend to handle, but which they avoid 
as much as possible; the Rommany of their 
romances are invariably subordinate charac- 
ters, the whole interest of the narratives 
being engrossed by the adventures of people 
of distinguished birth, who, by some strange 
concatenation of events, become associated 
for a period with the wanderers. 

"The Gypsy Girl," notwithstanding its 
popularity in Spain, is far from being the 



* In justice, we must except two works, the "Zig&ni " 
of the celebiated Puacktne, and a beautiful tale, pub- 
lished at St. I'elersburgh about six years ngo, entitled 
"Zijiiini B'Moskbai," (or the Gypsies at Moscow;) the 
heroines in both are veritable Gypsies. Russia is doomed 
eventually to effect a revolution in the political world, 
perhaps in the literary. 



best of the minor pieces of Cervantes ; its 
chief merit consists in the few preliminary 
lines, in which the thievish character of the 
Thugs of Europe is drawn with wonderful 
vigour and terseness; but no sooner does he 
cause his Gypsies to speak, in the course of 
his narrative, than we perceive that, like 
the hero and heroine, they too are " no Gyp- 
sies," but Busne in disguise : what real 
Gypsy ever spoke in such a strain as that in 
which he causes the old Gypsy chief to ad- 
dress the young Hidalgo, on his first joining 
the society? 

" We are lords of the plains and of the 
corn-fields, of the woods and the mountains, 
the rivers and the springs : the forests yield 
us wood for nothing; the trees fruits; the 
vines grapes; the gardens pulse ; the foun- 
tains water; the rivers fish, and the parks 
game; the rocks shade; the clefts in the hills 
fresh air, and the caves houses. For us the 
keen blasts of Heaven are gentle zephyrs, 
the snows refreshment; our baths are the 
rain; our music the thunders; our torches 
the lightning; the stony earth seems to us a 
bed of the softest down ; the tanned hide of 
our bodies serves as an impenetrable armour 

to defend us The 

fear of losing honour does not weary us, nor 
does the desire of increasing it keep us 
wakeful ; we neither sustain factions, nor 
rise betimes to present petitions, nor to at- 
tend magnates, nor to solicit favours. These 
sheds and moveable huts we esteem as gilded 
roofs and sumptuous palaces; and our Fle- 
mish pictures and landscapes are those which 
nature affords us in the stupendous hills and 
snowy precipices, wide-spread meadows, and 
tangled forests, which, at every step, meet 
our view. We are rustic astrologers, for as 
we always sleep beneath the naked sky, we 
have no difficulty in distinguishing the hours 
of the day from those of the night. We be- 
hold how Aurora sweeps away the stars 
from the heaven, and how accompanied by 
the dawn, she comes forth filling the air 
with gladness, cooling the water and bedew- 
ing the earth; and presently behind her the 
sun gilding summits, as the poet hath it, 
and curling f orests," &c. 

The above description of Gypsy life may 
be essentially true, but it is not usual for 
Gypsies to talk of such things, and least of 
all in the worst style of Gongora, as the old 
Thug is made to do by the author of "the 
Gypsy Girl." Cervantes was more at home 
in posadas and ventas than in Gypsy encamp- 
ments amongst the sierras, and was belter 
acquainted with the ways of Picaros than 
the manners of the Gitanos, which he evi- 
dently only knew by report: there are some 
who are of opinion that, at one period of 
his life, that of his temporary disappearance, 
he officiated as alguazil in one or other of 
the second class cities of Spain. This sup- 
position appears by no means improbable, 
and if adopted, it affords a clue to the sur- 
prising knowledge of Picaresque life, which 
he developes in the extraordinary story of 



26 



THE ZINCALI. 



Rinconete and Cortadillo. So much for Cer- 
vantes. 

There exists in the Spanish language a 
book, entitled Alonso, servant of many mas- 
ters, composed by the Doctor Geronimo de 
Alcala, native of the city of Segovia, who 
flourished about the commencement of the 
seventeenth century; perhaps, with the single 
exception of the grand work of Cervantes, 
there is no novel in existence which can 
compete with it for grave quiet humour, while 
for knowledge of the human mind and acute 
observation, we do not believe that its equal 
is to be found. Gil Bias, which, by the by, 
is a piratical compilation from the works of 
the old Spanish novelists, executed, it is true, 
with great tact and discernment, sinks im- 
measurably below the Alonso of the Sego- 
vian Doctor, who is made to serve all kinds 
of masters, from the sacristan of the church 
in an obscure village in Old Castile, to the 
proud Fidalgo of Lisbon ; and by the gene- 
rality of whom he is discarded on account of 
his great talkativeness, and the disposition 
which he exhibits to criticise their failings. 

At last he enters a convent as donado, or 
lay brother, where, for a long time, he enjoys 
the particular favour of the Father Vicar, 
whom, however, he eventually offends, like 
the rest, by the great freedom of discourse 
in which he indulges. He is formally read 
out of the society, and wanders about until 
he reaches one of those mountain-forests for- 
merly abounding in Spain, where he falls into 
the hands of Gitanos, whom he describes in 
a manner which almost induces the belief 
that the author had himself lived amongst 
these people, so true, so vivid is the colour- 
ing. Here follow extracts. 

"I had wandered little more than a league 
through the thickets, when I saw a great 
quantity of smoke arising not far from the 
place where I was, and concluding, like a 
good philosopher, that where there was smoke 
there must be fire, and if fire there must be 
people to kindle it, I endeavoured to direct 
my steps towards it, for it was now near 
nightfall, and the wind blew bitterly keen. 
I had no occasion however, to walk very far, 
as I suddenly felt myself seized by the shoul- 
ders; whereupon turning my head, I found 
myself in the hands of two men, not quite so 
handsome as English or Flemings, but black 
as mulattos, badly dressed, and of particularly 
ill-favoured countenances. I bade them good 
evening with trepidation enough of heart, as 
the Lord knows, asking them what they had 
to command. Then one of them, lisping a 
little, after the Gitano fashion, told me that I 
must go with them to their encampment to 
speak to my lord the Conde. In fine hands 
have I fallen, said I to myself, in which no 
doubt 1 shall prosper; a pretty night is pre- 
pared for me ; however, making a virtue of 
necessity, I replied, ' Well, gentlemen 
wherever you please.' They then led me 
through the thickest of the wood, between 
them, in order not to lose sight of me, and 
asked where was the animal on which I had 



come, and where I had left it. ' It always 
comes with me,' said I, * for, like a devout 
servant of San Francisco, I am a bad rider, 
and to save myself expense, always walk/ 
In such like discourse, we arrived at the en- 
campment of the brotherhood, who were al- 
ready expecting us, being advised, by the 
whistling of my guides, of the prey they 
were bringing, some time before we arrived. 
At the distance of more than a stone's throw, 
two Gypsy girls and three lads advanced to 
receive us with much rejoicing, inquiring 
whether other passengers were coming. ' He 
comes alone,' said my guards, 'and if he had 
delayed a little longer, we should have left 
our post, and returned empty handed.' Eager 
to know how my misfortune would end, I 
presently found myself amidst a rabble of 
near forty people, men and women, without 
reckoning boys of a reasonable age, who 
were running about amidst them as naked as 
they were born. They presented me to the 
Count, a person whom they all respected, 
and who was the judge and governor of this 
disorderly society. He received me with no 
little complaisance, and caused me to be 
stripped to the shirt, leaving me naked as 
when I left my mother's womb. My clothes 
were divided amongst the naked lads, and 

the little money I had amongst all 

So, without muttering one execration or 
proffering one excuse, I delivered up all my 
clothes, remaining en cuerpo ; only for de- 
cency's sake I kept a bit of a mantle, and even 
this they would not spare me, for a Gypsy 
woman coming up to me, cried, 'Show me, 
show me, for with this cloth we will warm 
the belly of little Antonio, who is almost 
dying with cold." 'It is good for nothing, 
I replied: 'for, although it is cloth, it is very 
old, torn, and threadbare, with no nap upon 
it.' ' Nap or none, it will do,' replied the 
evil hag, and without waiting for farther re- 
ply or excuse, tore it away from me. I 
wished at that moment to become a savage, 
that I might cover my nakedness and shame 
with my hair. But, without doubt, that piti- 
less woman had read the canon of Avicena, 
which says: Etiam in vilibus summa virtus 
inest. She wished her ailing bantling to be 
cured at my expense, caring nothing what 

harm might befall me in consequence 

"At the cries of the Conde forth stepped 
Isabel with half a goat, (the other half, as I 
afterwards learned having been eaten in 
the morning,) stolen according to custom 
from the flocks of some shepherds in the 
neighbourhood ; and asking no questions as 
to what death it died, or as to its tenderness, 
they put it on a stick as a spit, and all helping 
to bring wood, of which there was abundance, 
they made an enormous fire. The goat was 
presently roasted, and without asking for 
savoury sauces, those who officiated as car- 
vers began portioning out the meat in certain 
wooden platters. All squatted down around 
a sheet, which, spread on the ground, served 
as a table cloth. The night was very dark ; 
but there was no need of light, the blaze of 



ALONSO. 



27 



the fire being sufficient to illumine three 
times more company than that present. See- 
ing that they were supping, I went on one 
side that I might not compel them to invite 
me, whereupon a Gitana, taking from the 
platter one or two ribs, called to me, saying, 
* Take this bit of meat and bread, that you 
may not say to us, little good may it do you.' 
I was grateful for the regale, for to tell the 
truth, as I became warm in the neighbourhood 
of the fire my appetite was beginning to sting, 
and hunger to incommode me ; so I fell to 
work on my ribs, but notwithstanding I had 
capital teeth, I could make no impression, 
nor indeed could the best Irish harrier have 
broken them, so hard they were. But my 
companions making no ceremony, ate of 
their she-goat or he-goat, just as if it were a 
fat and tender capon, and from time to time 
swallowed down a pitcher of water, for wine 
was not used in this fraternity, being con- 
sidered as too expensive. I looked on and 
praised the Lord, seeing that what I could 
not eat was so savoury and palatable to these 
poor wretches ; for notwithstanding their food 
was carrion swallowed at so late an hour, 
and their drink not wine, but brackish hard 
water, being enough to make the most robust 
animal burst; still the old men, w T omen, and 
children were strong, with hale colour on 
their countenances and vigour in all their ac- 
tions, as much so as if their health had been 
the subject of their particular solicitude. . . 
It was already past midnight when the frater- 
nity began to betake themselves to rest, some 
of them reclining their backs against the pine 
trees, and others stretching themselves on 
any few clothes which they chanced to have ; 
I, who was beset by imaginations many and 
various, served as a vigilant sentinel, tending 
the fire, and adding to it frequently new ma- 
terials that it might not go out, for without 
its warmth I should certainly have arrived at 
the portals of death. I was busied in this oc- 
cupation more than five hours, until morning 
came, as slow in giving its light as desired 
by me. I began to take comfort when 1 saw 
the darkness passing away, and the sky che- 
quered with different colours, and forthwith 
sought for something to cover my sodden 
flesh, and it pleased God to show me some 
sheep skins, which, turned with the wool in- 
side, I commenced fastening to my body with 
some pieces of cord. 

"The sun was already illuming the lowest 
hills when these barbarians began to rouse 
themselves from their slumbers. Gracious 
providence ! though it had not left off rain- 
ing, more or less, for eleven hours, and 
though they had nothing to shelter and de- 
fend them from the inclemency of the cold, 
they had slept as calmly and quietly as if on 
beds of down. True it is that custom be- 
came to them nature, and to remove them 
from this species of life would have been 
death. Seeing that I had made of myself a 
portrait of the Baptist, with my arms and legs 
uncovered, all who saw me began to laugh, 
praising my industry, for by accommodating 



myself to circumstances I had given a proof 
of my skill ; it however availed me but little, 
for one of the Gitanas, uttering many cries, 
and threatening me with many abusive words, 
bade me instantly take off my new dress, it 
being the rug on which she was wont to sleep. 
I saw that she was right, as I had made my- 
self master of another person's property, and 
instantly stripped myself of that disguise, 
remaining naked as before. Two days I con- 
tinued in this state, and might have continued 
for many more but for the death of a Gitano, 
who being very infirm and excessively old, 
paid the debt to which he was condemned 
from the moment of his birth. 

"Two fellows made a deep hole or grave, 
where they left the body of the defunct un- 
covered, casting in with it some loaves and 
a little money, as if he needed it for the 
journey of the next world. Then the Gita- 
nas walked past, two by two, with hair dis- 
hevelled and scratching their visages, and 
she who made her nails most bloody performed 
her duty best, according to their idea. In 
the rear came the men calling on the saints, 
and principally on the divine Baptist, for 
whom they entertain an especial devotion, 
entreating him with loud cries, as if he were 
deaf, to help the dead, and to obtain pardon 
for his sins. When they were hoarse with 
shouting, they were proceeding to cast the 
earth over him ; but I prayed them to stay 
awhile whilst I said two words. They 
granted my request, and I with the greatest 
humility addressed them in the following 
manner 

" What I said appeared reasonable to all, 
and it was certainly strange that amongst so 
many there was none to contradict me. They 
told me to strip him ; and I very obediently 
took from the dead man his dress, with which 
I covered my body, becoming in garb, if not 
in disposition and manners, like the other 
Gypsies. I returned the body to its grave; 
and covering it with earth, left it until the 
day of judgment, when it will come forth to 
its account, like all the rest of us." 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE COMUNEROS. — GUEVARA. THE TWO PA- 

DILLAS. — MARY PADILLA AND HER HAG. 

CANNIBALISM. — FAJARDO. — ANECDOTES. 

CHILD-STEALING. — CONNEXION OF THE GI- 
TANOS WITH THE MOORS OF BARBARY. 

Few foreigners have heard of the Comu- 
neros of Spain; yet the civil war between the 
Comuneros and Royalists, or the party of 
Carlos the First, generally known in Europe 
by the name of Charles the Fifth, is one of 
tlfe most remarkable events in Spanish his- 
tory. 

Charles the Fifth, the Austrian, who as- 
cended the throne of Spain a mere stripling, 
brought with him a crowd of foreigners, by 



28 



THE ZINCALI. 



whose advice and opinions his actions, for 
some years, were much influenced. The ra- 
pacity and insolence of these followers highly 
incensed the people, and especially the proud 
Castilian nobles. Resistance to the royal au- 
thority was determined upon ; a league was 
formed, and those who composed it were 
called Comuneros, or individuals united in a 
common cause. This league had its ramifi- 
cations throughout Spain, but its focus was 
in Old Castile, and there principally was the 
battle fought. The Royalists and foreigners j 
finally triumphed, but in a manner which did • 
them little honour. Their soldiers were fierce 
and savage enough to all purpose, but their . 
swords and lances proved of less service to 
the royal cause than the preaching and ha- 
ranguing of certain friars, who were sent| 
amongst the Comuneros for the purpose of 
breeding dissension, in which they to a con- 
siderable extent succeeded. 

It is said that the Comuneros wished to 
have established a kind of republic, after the 
manner of the Italian states : the scheme was 
perhaps chimerical, yet some of the best and 
bravest spirits in Spain were engaged in it, 
the most celebrated of whom were Juan de 
Padilla, and the Bishop of Zamora. The Co- 
muneros, who still held together, were at last 
worsted in a decisive combat on the plains of 
Villalar, where their chiefs were taken pri- 
soners, after a desperate combat, and almost 
immediately executed. 

On this latter occasion, two examples were 
offered, one of heroic and generous feeling, 
and the other of Christian resignation, which 
are perhaps without a parallel. Juan de Pa- 
dilla was led forth to suffer on the scaffold 
with one Juan Bravo ; whereupon the latter, 
who was a cavalier of Salamanca and an en- 
thusiastic Comunero, begged of the execu- 
tioner to decapitate him first : that I may not 
see the best gentleman in Castile put to 
death. On hearing which, Padilla exclaimed: 
" Heed not such a trifle, Juan Bravo; yes- 
terday it became us to fight like gentlemen; 
to-day it is our duty to die like Chris- 
tians." 

But the most extraordinary of all the Co- 
muneros was a woman, and this woman was 
Donna Maria de Padilla, the wife of Juan de 
Padilla, of whom we have just been speaking. 
She was a native of Toledo, her maiden name 
was Pacheco, and she is said to have been a 
person of great beauty, and of masculine un- 
derstanding ; the worst enemy of her husband 
and herself, Friar Antonio Guevara,* bears 

* This individual was originally a soldier, subsequent ly 
a friar, and finally Bishop of Mondonedo, to which dig- 
nity he was advanced by the Emperor, for services ren- 
dered during the rebellion. He preached anainst the as 
sembled junta of the Comuneros at Villabraxima, and it 
is much to the credit of those of the league that he was 
permitted to depart alive, if he really said only one half 
of iht: Impertinent things of which he himself boasts in 
his letters. The Bishop of Zamora, however, dismissed 
him with a cutting rebuke, which Guevara had not suf- 
ficient sense to suppress, but has related to his own im 
mortal shame. He was a i erson of loud voice, matchles- 
impudence, and of exceeding ignorance. It is believed 
that Cervantes intended to represent Guevara by the in 
solent ecclesiastic at the Duke's table, who abuses the 
Don, and scolds the Duke for tolerating him. 



witness to her energy ; for, in his Familiar 

Letters,* he says, that she was the stay of 
the cause, a title of which she proved herself 
well worthy, by holding out, when all was 
lost; and by defending Toledo, the capital of 
New Castile, after the husband whom she 
idolized had perished on the scaffold in the 
adjoining province. The latter part of the 
life of this wonderful woman is enveloped in 
a strange mystery; she is said to have incited 
her husband to take a principal part in the 
rebellion, (for rebellion it certainly was,) 
from motives of ambition, with which she 
was inspired by the discourse of a being — a 
female, who was continually about her, prat- 
tling and filling her brain with fantastic vi- 
sions of future grandeur. Let us see what 
her enemy Guevara says on this point, who, 
in a letter which he addressed to her, thus 
writes : — 

"People likewise say of you, O madam, 
that you have about you a tawny and frantic 
slave, a female who is a great sorceress ; and 
they say that she has said and affirmed, that 
within a few days you shall be called high 
and mighty lady, and your husband high- 
ness." 

It appears to us, that this mad, tawny fe- 
male, whom Guevara calls a slave, was a 
Gypsy, one of the sect of the Rommany, of 
the husbands and wives, such predictions 
having at all times formed part of the buena 
ventura, which they are so fond of telling. 

It is singular enough that the Gitanos, who 
have so few traditions, speak of Mary Padil- 
la, in one of their magic rhymes : — 

" One of these cheeses I will give to Mary Padilla and 
to her company." 

It must be observed, however, that two 
personages of the name of Maria de Padilla 
have played a part in Spanish history. The 
first was the wife or concubine of the king 
Don Pedro, and the second the Maria Pa- 
checo, or Padilla, as she is always called, of 
whom we are now speaking. We entertain 
no doubt, however, and no individual who at 
all understands the subject can entertain a 
doubt, that Maria Pacheco, wife of Don Juan 
de Padilla, is alluded to in this witch-rhyme 
of the Gitanos, and not the wife of the king 
Don Pedro, who was also called Donna Ma- 
ria de Padilla. 

Maria Padilla, the wife of Don Pedro, lived 
centuries before the arrival of the Gitanos in 
Spain. This alone is a very strong argu- 
ment for the correctness of the opinion ex- 
pressed ; if we consider what slight know- 
ledge people so illiterate as the Gitanos 
could have of the unfortunate wife of Don 
Pedro, and how little any thing relating to 
her was calculated to interest this jente de 
behetria, this disorderly rabble, who, during 
their whole sojourn in Spain, have thought 
of nothing hut deceit and robbery. 

But with respect to the other Maria, the 
Pacheco Padilla, the case is widely different. 

* Epistolas Familiares. Salamanca, 1578. Several of 
these letters are addressed to the principal Comuneros; 
amongst them is one to Maria de Padilla. 



CANNIBALISM. FAJARDO. 



29 



She lived in Gypsy times; and we have 
little hesitation in believing that she was 
connected with this race — fatally for herself: 
her slave ! lora y loca, tawny and frantic — 
what epithets can be found more applicable 
to a Gypsy, more descriptive of her personal 
appearance and occasional demeanour than 
these two] And then again, the last scene 
in the life of Padilla, so mysterious, so unac- 
countable, unless the Gitanos were con- 
cerned, and they unquestionably were flit- 
ting about the eventful stage at that pe- 
riod. 

The great majority of the Spanish towns, 
foreseeing perhaps the evil termination of 
the enterprise, abandoned the comunidad. 
The commercial city of Medina was burnt 
by the royal soldiery in their rage. The fate 
of Olmedo was little better. After the affair 
of Villalar, all the Comuneros who remained 
alive submitted, and all the cities of Spain 
presented their keys to the conquerors, with 
the exception of Toledo, where Maria Pa- 
dilla commanded, by the express desire of 
the Toledans themselves. Toledo resisted 
so long as the Padilla thought fit; and per- 
haps this city would have chosen and imi- 
tated the fate of Nuinancia, if the heroic 
matron had required such a sacrifice. But 
the Padilla loved Toledo as dearly as she 
loved the cause for which her husband had 
fallen ; and perceiving that it was necessary 
either to surrender or to see Toledo razed to 
the ground, she disguised herself in the dress 
of a female peasant, or perhaps in that of a 
Gypsy, and leading her son by the hand, 
escaped from Toledo one stormy night; and 
from that moment nothing more is known of 
her. The surrender of the town followed 
immediately after her disappearance. 

We have said that perhaps she disguised 
herself as a Gypsy, and we certainly believe 
that the tawny and frantic slave, the mighty 
sorceress, who haunted her, was a genuine 
Gitana, and that the lying prophecy attri- 
buted to her was the baji or buena ventura. 
It was quite in character for this being to 
assist her mistress, or rather her victim, in 
making her escape, not from love, not from 
fidelity, O no! The Gitana had no sympa- 
thy, no pity, for the busnee, or her fair boy. 
She and her gang, concealed amongst the 
hills, only thought of the jewels which the 
Padilla might bring with her. 

One word more on this point. The place 
where the most noisy meetings of the Co- 
muneros were held, was the village of Villa- 
braxima, which, as Martin del Rio proves, 
(an excellent authority on such a subject,) 
was one of the most constant haunts of the 
Gitanos. It is by no means improbable that 
during the events which we have related 
above, the Comuneros employed Gitanos for 
the purpose of conveying their correspon- 
dence, and perhaps the royalists themselves 
made use of these people — people exactly 
suited for every species of mysterious crime 
—so that the poor unfortunate Padilla, trust- 
ing to make her escape by means of them 



and her frantic slave, perished with her 
young son by hokkano baro. 

If the Gitanos had any hand in the disap- 
pearance and death of the Padilla, it is the 
worst of the many evil actions which they 
have committed in Spain. 

"Los Gitanos son muy malos! — the Gyp- 
sies are very bad people," said the Spaniards 
of old times. They are cheats; they are 
highwaymen; they practise sorcery; and, 
lest the catalogue of their offences should be 
incomplete, a formal charge of cannibalism 
was brought against them. Cheats they 
have always been, and highwaymen, and if 
not sorcerers, they have always done their 
best to merit that appellation, by arrogating 
to themselves supernatural powers; but that 
they were addicted to cannibalism is a mat- 
ter not so easily proved. 

Their principal accuser was Don Juan de 
Quinoues, who, in the work from which we 
have already had occasion to quote, gives 
several anecdotes illustrative of their canni- 
bal propensities. Most of these anecdotes, 
however, are so highly absurd, that none but 
the very credulous could ever have vouchsafed 
them the slightest credit. This author is very 
fond of speaking of a certain juez, or judge, 
called Don Martin Fajardo, who seems to 
have been an arrant Gypsy-hunter, and was 
probably a member of the ancient family of 
the Fajardos which still flourisnes in Estre- 
madura, and with individuals of which we 
are acquainted. So it came to pass that this 
personage was, in the year 1629, at Jarai- 
cejo, in Estremadura, or, as it is written in 
the little book in question, Zaraizejo, in the 
capacity of judge, a zealous one he undoubt- 
edly was. 

A very strange place is this same Jarai- 
cejo, a small ruinous town or village, situated 
on a rising ground, with a very wild country 
all about it. The road from Badajoz to Ma- 
drid passes through it ; and about two leagues 
distant, in the direction of Madrid, is the 
famous mountain pass of Mirabete, from the 
top of which you enjoy a most picturesque 
view across the Tagus, which flows below, 
as far as the huge mountains of Plasencia, 
the tops of which are generally covered with 
snow. 

So this Don Martin Fajardo, judge, being 
at Jaraicejo, laid his claw upon four Gita- 
nos, and having nothing, as it appears, to 
accuse them of, except being Gitanos, put 
them to the torture, and made them accuse 
themselves, which they did; for, on the first 
appeal which was made to the rack, they 
confessed that they had murdered a female 
Gypsy in the forest of Las Gamas, and had 
there eaten her 

I am myself well acquainted with this 
same forest of Las Gamas, which lies be- 
tween Jaraicejo and Trujillo; it abounds 
with chestnut and cork trees, and is a place 
very well suited either for the purpose of 
murder or cannibalism. It will be as well 
to observe that I visited it in company with 
a band of Gitanos, who bivouacked there, 



30 



THE ZINCALI. 



and cooked their supper, which however did 
not consist of human flesh, but of a puchera, 
the ingredients of which were beef, bacon, 
garbanzos, and berdolaga, or field-peas and 
purslain, — therefore I myself can bear testi- 
mony that there is such a forest as Las 
Gamas, and that it is frequented occasionally 
by Gypsies, by which two points are esta- 
blished by far the most important to the his- 
tory in question, or so at least it would be 
thought in Spain, for being sure of the forest 
and the Gypsies, few would be incredulous 
enough to doubt the facts of the murder and 
cannibalism 

On being put to the rack a second time, 
the Gitanos confessed that they had like- 
wise murdered and eaten a female pilgrim in 
the forest aforesaid ; and on being tortured 
yet again, that they had served in the same 
manner, and in the same forest, a friar of the 
order of San Francisco, whereupon they 
were released from the rack and executed. 
This is one of the anecdotes of Quinones. 

And it came to pass, moreover, that the 
said Fajardo, being in the town of Montijo, 
was told by the alcalde, that a certain inha- 
bitant of that place had some time previous 
lost a mare ; and wandering about the plains 
in quest of her, he arrived at a place called 
Arroyo el Puerco, where stood a ruined 
house, on entering which he found various 
Gitanos employed in preparing their dinner, 
which consisted of a quarter of a human 
body, which was being roasted before a huge 
fire: the result however we are not told: 
whether the Gypsies were angry at being dis- 
turbed in their cookery, or whether the man 
of the mare departed unobserved. 

Quinones, in continuation, states in his 
book that he learned (he does not say from 
whom, but probably from Fajardo) that there 
was a shepherd of the city of Gaudix, who 
once lost his way in the wild sierra of Gadol : 
night came on, and the wind blew cold; he 
wandered about until he descried a light in 
the distance, towards which he bent his way, 
supposing it to be a fire kindled by shep- 
herds; on arriving at the spot, however, 
he found a whole tribe of Gypsies, who were 
roasting the half of a man, the other half 
being hung on a cork tree: the Gypsies wel- 
comed him very heartily, and requested him 
to be seated at the fire and to sup with 
them ; but he presently heard them whisper 
to each other, "this is a fine fat fellow," 
from which he suspected that they were me- 
ditating a design upon his body; whereupon, 
feigning himself sleepy, he made, as if he 
were seeking a spot where to lie, and sud- 
denly darted headlong down the mountain 
side, and escaped from their hands without 
breaking his neck. 

These anecdotes scarcely deserve com- 
ment: first, we have the statements of Fa- 
jardo, the fool or knave, who tortures 
wretches, and then puts them to death for 
the crimes with which they have taxed 
themselves whilst undergoing the agonv of 
the rack, probably With the hope OI Obtaining 'pelled people far more civilized than wandering Gypsies 



a moment's respite ; last comes the tale of 
the shepherd, who is invited by Gypsies on a 
mountain at night to partake of a supper of 
human flesh, and who runs away from them 
on hearing them talk of the fatness of his 
own body, as if cannibal robbers detected inr 
their orgies by a single interloper would 
have afforded him a chance of escaping. 
Such tales cannot be true.* 

Cases of cannibalism are said to have oc- 
curred in Hungary amongst the Gypsies ; 
indeed, the whole race, in that country, has 
been accused of cannibalism, to which we 
have alluded whilst speaking of the Chin- 
gany : it is very probable, however, that they 
were quite innocent of this odious practice, 
and that the accusation had its origin in po- 
pular prejudice, or in the fact of their foul 
feeding, and their seldom rejecting carrion 
or offal of any description. 

The Gazette of Frankfort for the year 
1782, Nos. 157 and 207, states that one hun- 
dred and fifty Gypsies were imprisoned 
charged with this practice ; and that the 
Empress Teresa sent commissioners to in- 
quire into the facts of the accusation, who 
discovered that they were true ; whereupon 
the Empress published a law to oblige all 
the Gypsies in her dominions to become 
stationary, which, however, had no effect. 

Upon this matter we can state nothing on 
our own knowledge. 

"Los Gitanos son muy malos; llevart 
ninos hurtados a Berberia. The Gypsies 
are very bad people; they steal children and 
carry them to Barbary, where they sell them 
to the Moors" — so said the Spaniards in old 
times. There can be little doubt that even 
before the fall of the kingdom of Granada, 
which occurredjin the year 1492, the Gitanos 
had intercourse with the Moors of Spain. 
Andalusia, which has ever been the province 
where the Gitano race has most abounded 
since its arrival, was, until the edict of Philip 
the Third, which banished more than a mil- 
lion of Moriscos from Spain, principally peo- 
pled by Moors, who differed from the Spa- 
niards both in language and religion ; by living- 
even as wanderers amongst these people, 
the Gitanos naturally became acquainted 
with their tongue, and with many of their 
customs, which of course much facilitated 
any connexion which they might subse- 
quently form with the Barbaresques. Be- 
tween the Moors of Barbary and the Spa- 
niards a deadly and continued war raged for 
centuries, both before and after the expulsion 
of the Moriscos from Spain. The Gitanos, 
who cared probably as little for one nation 
as the other, and who have no sympathy and 
affection beyond the pale of their own sect, 
doubtless sided with either as their interest 

* Yet notwithstanding : that wo refuse credit to these 
particular narrations of Qniiiones and Fajardo, acts 
of cannibalism may certainly have been perpetrated 
by the Gitanos of Spain in ancient times, when they 
were for the most part semi-savages, Itving amongst 
mountains and deserts, where food was hard to be pro- 
cured : famine may have occasionally compelled them 
to prey on human flesh, as it has in modern times com- 



CHILD-STEALING. 



31 



dictated, officiating as spies for both parties 
and betraying both. 

It is likely enough that they frequently 
passed over to Barbary with stolen children 
of both sexes, whom they sold to the Moors, 
who traffic in slaves, whether white or black, 
even at the present day; and perhaps this 
kidnapping trade gave occasion to other re- 
lations. As they were perfectly acquainted, 
from their wandering life, with the shores of 
the Spanish Mediterranean, they must have 
been of considerable assistance to the Bar- 
bary pirates in their marauding trips to the 
Spanish coast, both as guides and advisers; 
and as it was a far easier matter, and afford- 
ed a better prospect of gain, to plunder the 
Spaniards than* the Moors, a people almost 
as wild as themselves, they were, on that 
account, and that only, more Moors than 
Christians, and ever willing to assist the 
former in their forays on the latter. 

Quinones observes: "The Moors with 
whom they hold correspondence let them 
go and come without any let or obstacle : an 
instance of this was seen in the year 1627, 
when two galleys from Spain were carrying 
assistance to Mamora, which was then be- 
sieged by the Moors. These galleys struck 
on a shoal, when the Moors seized all the 
people on board, making captives of the 
Christians and setting at liberty all the 
Moors, who were chained to the oar; as for 
the Gypsy galley-slaves whom they found 
amongst these last, they did not make them 
slaves, but received them as people friendly 
to them, and at their devotion ; which mat- 
ter was public and notorious." 

Of the Moors and the Gitanos we shall 
have occasion to say something in the fol- 
lowing chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 

BARBARY AND ITS TRIBES. — BENI AROS. — 

SIDI HAMED AU MUZA. THE CHILDREN OF 

THE DAR-BUSHI-FAL, A SECT OF THIEVES 
AND SORCERERS, PROBABLY OF GYPSY 

j ORIGIN. 

' There is no portion of the world so little 
known as Africa in general ; and perhaps of 
all Africa there is no corner with which Eu- 
ropeans are so little acquainted as Barbary, 
which nevertheless is only separated from 
the continent of Europe by a narrow strait of 
four leagues across. 

China itself has, for upwards of a century, 
ceased to be a land of mystery to the civilized 
portion of the world ; the enterprising chil- 
dren of Loyola having wandered about it in 
every direction, making converts to their 
doctrine and discipline, whilst the Russians 
possess better maps of its vast regions than 
of their own country, and lately, owing to 



the persevering labour and searching eye of 
my friend Hyacinth, Archimandrite of Saint 
John Nefsky, are acquainted with the num- 
ber of its military force to a man, and also 
with the names and residences of its civil 
servants. Yet who possesses a map of Fez 
and Morocco, or would venture to form a 
conjecture as to how many fiery horsemen 
Abderrahman, the mulatto emperor, could 
lead to the field, were his sandy dominions 
threatened by the Nazarene? Yet Fez is 
scarcely two hundred leagues distant from 
Madrid, whilst Maraks, the other great city 
of the Moors, and which also has given its 
name to an empire, is scarcely farther re- 
moved from Paris, the capital of civilization : 
in a word, we scarcely know any thing of 
Barbary, the scanty information which we 
possess being confined to a few tpwns on the 
sea coast; the zeal of the Jesuit himself be- 
ing insufficient to induce him to confront the 
perils of the interior, in the hopeless endea- 
vour of making one single proselyte from 
amongst the wildest fanatics of the creed of 
the Prophet Camel-driver. 

Are wanderers of the Gypsy race to be 
found in Barbary 1 This is a question which 
I have frequently asked myself. Several re- 
spectable authors have, I believe, asserted the 
fact, amongst whom Adelung, who, speaking 
of the Gypsies, says, "Four hundred years 
have passed away since they departed from 
their native land. During this time, they have 
spread themselves through the whole of West- 
ern Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa."* 
But it is one thing to make an assertion, and 
another to produce the grounds for making 
it. I believe it would require a far greater 
stock of information than has hitherto been 
possessed by any one who has written on the 
subject of the Gypsies, to justify him in as- 
serting positively, that after traversing the 
west of Europe, they spread themselves over 
Northern Africa, though true it is that to 
those who take a superficial view of the mat- 
ter, nothing appears easier and more natural 
than to come to such a conclusion. 

Tarifa, they will say, the most western part 
of Spain, is opposite to Tangier, in Africa, a 
narrow sea only running between, less wide 
than many rivers. Bands, therefore, of these 
wanderers, of course, on reaching Tarifa, 
passed over into Africa, even as thousands 
crossed the channel from France to England. 
They have at all times shown themselves ex- 
travagantly fond of a roving life. What land 
is better adapted for such a life than Africa and 
its wilds'? What land, therefore, more likely 
to entice them? 

All this is very plausible. It was easy 
enough for the Gitanos to pass over to Tan- 
gier and Tetuan, from the Spanish towns of 
Tarifa and Algeziras. In the last chapter I 
have stated my belief of the fact, and that 
moreover they formed certain connexions 
with the Moors of the coast, to whom it is 
likely that they occasionally sold children 

* Mithridates, erster theil. e. 241. 



32 



THE ZINCALI. 



stolen in Spain ; yet such connexion would 
by no means have opened them a passage into 
the interior of Barbary, which is inhabited by 
wild and fierce people, in comparison with 
whom the Moors of the coast, bad as they 
always have been, are gentle and civilized. 

To penetrate into Africa, the Gitanos would 
have been compelled to pass through the tribes 
who speak the Shilha language, and who are 
the descendants of the ancient Numidians. 
These tribes are the most untameable and 
warlike of mankind, and at the same time the 
most suspicious, and those who entertain the 
greatest aversion to foreigners. They are 
dreaded by the Moors themselves, and have 
always remained, to a certain degree, inde- 
pendent of the emperors of Morocco. They 
are the most terrible of robbers and murderers, 
and entertain far more reluctance to spill 
water, than the blood of their fellow-creatures: 
the Bedouins, also, of the Arabian race, are 
warlike, suspicious, and cruel ; and would 
not have failed instantly to have attacked 
bands of foreign wanderers, wherever they 
found them, and in all probability to have ex- 
terminated them. Now the Gitanos, such as 
they arrived in Barbary, could not have de- 
fended themselves against such enemies, had 
they even arrived in large divisions, instead 
of bands of twenties and thirties, as is their 
custom to travel. They are not by nature 
nor by habit a warlike race, and would have 
quailed before the Africans, who, unlike most 
other people, engage in wars, from what ap- 
pears to be an innate love of the cruel and 
bloody scenes attendant on war. 

It may be said, that if the Gitanos were 
able to make their way from the north of 
India, from Multan, for example, the province 
which the learned consider to be the original 
dwelling-place of the race, to such an im- 
mense distance as the western part of Spain, 
passing necessarily through many wild lands 
and tribes, why might they not have pene- 
trated into the heart of Barbary, and where- 
fore may not their descendants be still there 
following the same kind of life as the Eu- 
ropean Gypsies, that is, wandering about 
from place to place, and maintaining them- 
selves by deceit and robbery 1 

But those who are acquainted but slightly 
with the condition of Barbary, are aware that 
it would be less difficult and dangerous for a 
company of foreigners to proceed from Spain 
to Multan, than from the nearest sea-port in 
Barbary to Fez, an insignificant distance. 
True it is, that from their intercourse with 
the Moors of Spain, the Gypsies might have 
become acquainted with the Arabic language, 
and might even have adopted the Moorish 
dress ere entering Barbary ; and, moreover, 
might have professed belief in the religion of 
Mahomet; still they would have been known 
as foreigners, and, on that account, would 
have been assuredly attacked by the people 
of the interior, had they gone amongst them, 
who, according to the usual practice, would 
either have massacred them, or made them 
slaves, and as slaves they would have been 



separated. The mulatto hue of their counte- 
nances would probably have insured them the 
latter fate, as all blacks and mulattos in the 
dominions of the Moor are properly slaves, 
and can be bought and sold, unless by some 
means or other they become free, in which 
event their colour is no obstacle to their ele- 
vation to the highest employments and dig- 
nities, to their becoming pashas of cities and 
provinces, or even to their ascending the 
throne. Several emperors of Morocco have 
been mulattos. 

Above I have pointed out all the difficulties 
and dangers which must have attended the 
path of the Gitanos, had they passed from 
Spain into Barbary, and attempted to spread 
themselves over that region, as over Europe 
and many parts of Asia. To these observa- 
tions I have been led, by the assertion that 
they accomplished this; and no proof of the 
fact having, as I am aware, ever been adduced ; 
for who amongst those who have made such 
a statement, has seen or conversed with the 
Egyptians of Barbary, or had sufficient inter- 
course with them, to justify him in the as- 
sertion that they are one and the same people 
as those of Europe, from whom they differ 
about as much as the various tribes which in- 
habit various European countries differ from 
each other. At the same time, I wish it to 
be distinctly understood, that I am far from 
denying the existence of Gypsies in various 
parts of the interior of Barbary. Indeed, I 
almost believe the fact, though the informa- 
tion which I possess is by no means of a de- 
scription which would justify me in speaking 
with full certainty; I having myself never come 
in contact with any sect or caste of people 
amongst the Moors, who not only tallied in 
their pursuits with the Rommany, but who 
likewise spoke amongst themselves a dialect 
of the language of the Roma ; nor am I aware 
that any individual worthy of credit has ever 
presumed to say that he has been more fortu- 
nate in these respects. 

Nevertheless, I repeat that I am inclined to 
believe that Gypsies virtually exist in Bar- 
bary, and my reasons I shall presently adduce; 
but I will here observe, that if these strange 
outcasts did indeed contrive to penetrate into 
the heart of that savage and inhospitable 
region, they could only have succeeded after 
having become well acquainted with the 
Moorish language, and when, after a conside- 
rable sojourn on the coast, they had raised 
for themselves a name, and were regarded 
with superstitious fear; in a word, if they 
walked this land of peril untouched and un- 
scathed, it was not that they were considered 
as harmless and inoffensive people, which, 
indeed, would not have protected them, and 
which assuredly they were not; it was not 
that they were mistaken for wandering Moors 
and Bedouins, from whom they differed in 
feature and complexion, but because, wherever 
they went, they were dreaded as the posses- 
sors of supernatural powers, and as mighty 
sorcerers. 

There is in Barbary more than one sect of 



CHILDREN OF THE DAR-BUSHI-FAL 



33 



wanderers, which, to the cursory observer, 
might easily appear, and perhaps have ap- 
peared, in the light of legitimate Gypsies. 
For example, there are the Beni Aros. The 
proper home of these people is in certain high 
mountains in the neighbourhood of Tetuan, 
but they are to be found roving about the 
whole kingdom of Fez. Perhaps it would be 
impossible to find, in the whole of Northern 
Africa, a more detestable caste. They are 
beggars by profession, but are exceedingly 
addicted to robbery and murder; they are no- 
torious drunkards, and are infamous, even in 
Barbary, for their unnatural lusts; gangs of 
them frequently forcing their way into vil- 
lages, whence they bear off all the good- 
iooking male children. They are, for the 
most part, well made and of comely features. 
I have occasionally spoken with them ; they 
are Moors, and speak no language but the 
Arabic. 

Then there is the sect of Sidi Hamed au 
Muza, a very roving people, companies of 
whom are generally to be found in all the 
principal towns of Barbary. The men are 
expert vaulters and tumblers, and perform 
wonderful feats of address with swords and 
daggers, to the sound of wild music, which 
the women, seated on the ground, produce 
from uncouth instruments ; by these means 
they obtain a livelihood. Their dress is pic- 
turesque, scarlet vest and white drawers. In 
many respects they not a little resemble the 
Gypsies ; but they are not an evil people, and 
are looked upon with much respect by the 
Moors, who call them Santons. Their patron 
saint is Hamed au Muza, and from him they 
derive their name. Their country is on the 
confines of the Sahra, or great desert, and 
their language is the Shilhah, or a dialect 
thereof. They speak but little Arabic. When 
I saw them for the first time, I believed them 
to be of the Gypsy caste, but was soon unde- 
ceived. A more wandering race does not 
exist, than the children of Sidi Hamed au 
Muza. They have even visited France, and 
exhibited their dexterity and agility at Paris 
and Marseilles* 

I will now say a few words concerning 
another sect which exists in Barbary, and 
will here premise, that if those who compose 
it are not Gypsies, such people are not to 
be found in North Africa, and the assertion 
hitherto believed, that they abound there, is 
devoid of foundation. I allude to certain 
men and women, generally termed by the 
Moors, "Those of the Dar-bushi-fal," which 
word is equivalent to prophesying or fortune- 
telling. They are great wanderers, but have 
also their fixed dwellings or villages, and 
such a place is called "Char Seharra," or 
witch-hamlet. Their manner of life, in every 
respect, resembles that of the Gypsies of 
other countries ; they are wanderers during 
the greatest part of the year, and subsist 
principally by pilfering and fortune-telling. 
They deal much in mules and donkeys, and 
it is believed, in Barbary, that they can change 
the colour of any animal by means of sorce- 



ry, and so disguise him as to sell him to his 
very proprietor, without fear of his being 
recognised. This latter trait is quite charac- 
teristic of the Gypsy race, by whom the same 
thing is practised in most parts of the world. 
But the Moors assert, that the children of 
the Dar-bushi-fal can not only change the 
colour of a horse or a mule, but likewise of 
a human being, in one night, transforming a 
white into a black, after which they sell him 
for a slave; on which account the supersti- 
tious Moors regard them with the utmost 
dread, and in general prefer passing the night 
in the open fields, to sleeping in their ham- 
lets. They are said to possess a particular 
language, which is neither Shilhah nor Ara- 
bic, and which none but themselves under- 
stand; from all which circumstances I am 
led to believe, that the children of the Dar- 
bushi-fal are legitimate Gypsies, descendants 
of those who passed over to Barbary from 
Spain. Nevertheless, as it has never been 
my fortune to meet or to converse with any 
of this caste, although they are tolerably nu- 
merous in Barbary, I am far from asserting 
that they are of Gypsy race. More enter- 
prising individuals than myself may, perhaps, 
establish the fact. Any particular language 
or jargon which they speak amongst them- 
selves, will be the best criterion. The word 
which they employ for " water," would de- 
cide the point; for the Dar-bushi-fal are not 
Gypsies, if, in their peculiar speech, they 
designate that blessed element and article 
most necessary to human existence, by aught 
else than the Sanscrit term " Pani," a word 
brought by the race from sunny Ind, and es- 
teemed so holy that they have never pre- 
sumed to modify it. 

The following is an account of the Dar- 
bushi-fal, given me by a Jew of Fez, who 
had travelled much in Barbary, and which [ 
insert almost literally as I heard it from his 
mouth. Various other individuals, Moors, 
have spoken of them in much ihe same 
manner. 

" In one of my journeys I passed the night 
in a place called Mulai-Jacub Munsur. 

" Not far from this place is a Char Seharra, 
or witch-hamlet, where dwell those of the 
Dar-bushi-fal. These are very evil people, 
and powerful enchanters ; for it is well known 
that if any traveller stop to sleep in their Char, 
they will with their sorceries, if he be a 
white man, turn him as black as a coal, and 
will afterwards sell him as a negro. Horses 
and mules they serve in the same manner, 
for if they are black, they will turn them red, 
or any other colour which best may please 
them; and although the owners demand jus- 
tice of the authorities, the sorcerers always 
come off best. They have a language which 
they use among themselves, very different 
from all other languages, so much so that it 
is impossible to understand them. They are 
very swarthy, quite as much so as mulattos, 
and their faces are exceedingly lean. As for 
their legs, they are like reeds; and when they 
run, the devil himself cannot overtake thenf. 



34 



THE ZINCALI. 



They tell Dar-bushi-fal with flour ; they fill 
a plate, and then they are able to tell you 
any thing you ask them. They likewise tell 
it with a shoe; they put it in their mouth, 
and then they will recall to your memory 
every action of your life. They likewise 
tell Dar-bushi-fal with oil; and indeed are, 
in every respect, most powerful sorcerers. 

"Two women, once on a time, came to 
Fez, bringing with them an exceedingly white 
donkey, which they placed in the middle of 
the square called Faz el Bali ; they then 
killed it, and cut it into upwards of thirty 
pieces. Upon the ground there was much 
of the donkey's filth and dung; some of this 
they took in their hands, when it straight as- 
sumed the appearance of fresh dates. There 
were some people who were greedy enough 
to put these dates into their mouths, and 
then they found that it was dung. These 
women deceived me, amongst the rest, with 
a date ; when I put it into my mouth, lo and 
behold it was the donkey's dung. After they 
had collected much money from the specta- 
tors, one of them took a needle, and ran it 
into the tail of the donkey, crying, 'Arrhe 
li dar,' (Get home,) whereupon the donkey 
instantly rose up, and set off running, kicking 
every now and then most furiously; and it 
was remarked, that not one single trace of 
blood remained upon the ground, just as if 
they had done nothing to it. Both these 
women were of the very same Char Seharra 
which I have already mentioned. They like- 
wise took paper, and cut it into the shape of 
a peseta, and a dollar, and a half dollar, until 
they had made many pesetas and dollars, and 
then they put them into an earthen pan over 
a fire, and when they took them out, they 
appeared just fresh from the stamp, and with 
such money these people buy all they want. 

" There was a friend of my grandfather, 
who came frequently to our house, who was 
in the habit of making this money. One day 
he took me with him to buy white silk ; and 
when they had shown him some, he took the 
silk in his hand, and pressed it to his mouth, 
and then 1 saw that the silk, which was be- 
fore white, had become green, even as grass. 
The master of the shop said, * Pay me for 
my silk.' 'Of what colour was your silk?' 
he demanded. ' White,' said the man; where- 
upon, turning round, he cried, 'Good people, 
behold the white silk is green ;' and so he 
got a pound of silk for nothing; and he also 
was of the Char Seharra. 

" They are very evil people indeed, and the 
Emperor himself is afraid of them. The 
poor wretch who falls into their hands has 
cause to rue; they always go badly dressed, and 
exhibit every appearance of misery, though 
they are far from being miserable. Such is 
the life they load." 

There is, of course, some exaggeration in 
the above account of the Dar-bushi-fal; yet 
there Is little reason to doubt that there is a 
foundation of truth in all the facts stated. 
The belief that they are enabled, by sorcery, 
to change a white into a black man, had its 



origin in the great skill which they possess 
in altering the appearance of a horse or a 
mule, and giving it another colour. Their 
changing white into green silk is a very simple 
trick, and is accomplished by dexterously 
substituting one thing for another. Had the 
man of the' Dar-bushi-fal been searched, the 
white silk would have been found upon him. 
The Gypsies, wherever they are found, are 
fond of this species of fraud. In Germany, 
for example, they go to the wine shop with 
two pitchers exactly similar, one in their hand 
empty, and the other beneath their cloaks, 
filled with water; when the empty pitcher is 
filled with wine they pretend to be dissatisfied 
with the quality, or to have no money, but 
contrive to substitute the pitcher of water in 
its stead, which the wine seller generally 
snatches up in anger, and pours the contents 
back, as he thinks, into the butt — but it is 
not wine but water which he pours. With 
respect to the donkey, which appeared to be 
cut in pieces, but which afterwards, being 
pricked in the tail, got up and ran home, I 
have little to say, but that I have myself 6een 
almost as strange things without believing 
in sorcery. 

As for the dates of dung, and the paper 
money, they are mere feats of legerdemain. 

1 repeat, that if legitimate Gypsies really 
exist in Barbary, they are the men and wo- 
men of the Dar-bushi-fal. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CHIROMANCY. TORREBLANCA. — GITANAS. 

THE GITANA OF SEVILLE. — LABUENA VEN- 
TURA. THE DANCE. THE SONG. TRICKS 

OF THE GITANAS. — THE WIDOW. — OCCULT 
POWERS. 

Chiromancy, orthe divination of the hand, 
is, according to the orthodox theory, the de- 
termining from certain lines upon the hand 
the quality of the physical and intellectual 
powers of the possessor. 

The whole science is based upon the five 
principal lines in the hand, and the triangle 
which they form in the palm. These lines, 
which have all their particular and appropriate 
names, and the principal of which is called 
" the line of life," are, if we may believe those 
who have written on the subject, connected 
with the heart, with the genitals, with the 
brain, with the liver or stomach, and the head. 
Torreblanca,* in his curious and learned book 
on magic, observes, "In judging these lines 
you must pay attention to their substance, 
colour, and continuance, together with the 
disposition of the correspondent member; 
for, if the lino be well and clearly described, 
and is of a vivid colour, without being inter- 
mitted or puncturis infecta, it denotes the 

» Torreblanca Jc Magin, 1C78. 



GITANAS. 



35 



good complexion and virtue of its member, 
according to Aristotle. 

" So that if the line of the heart be found 
sufficiently long and reasonably deep, and not 
crossed by other accidental lines, it is an in- 
fallible sign of the health of the heart and the 
great virtue of the heart, and the abundance 
of spirits and good blood in the heart, and ac- 
cordingly denotes boldness and liberal genius 
for every work.' 

In like manner, by means of the hepatal 
line, it is easy to form an accurate judgment 
as to the state of a person's liver, and of his 
powers of digestion, and so on with respect 
to all the other organs of the body. 

After having laid down all the rules of chi- 
romancy with the utmost possible clearness, 
the sage Torreblanca exclaims : " And with 
these terminate the canons of true and catholic 
chiromancy ; for as for the other species by 
which people pretend to divine concerning 
the affairs of life, either past or to come, dig- 
nities, fortunes, children, events, chances, 
dangers, &c, such chiromancy is not only 
reprobated by theologians, but by men of law 
and physic, as a foolish, false, vain, scan- 
dalous, futile, superstitious practice, smell- 
ing much of divinery and a pact with the 
devil." 

Then, after mentioning a number of erudite 
and enlightened men of the three learned 
professions, who have written against such 
absurd superstitions, amongst whom he cites 
Martin Del Rio, he falls foul of the Gypsy 
wives in this manner: "A practice turned to 
profit by the wives of that rabble of abandoned 
miscreants whom the Italians call Cingari, 
the Latins Egyptians, and we Gitanos, who, 
notwithstanding that they are sent by the 
Turks into Spain for the purpose of acting as 
spies upon the Christian religion, pretend 
that they are wandering over the world in ful- 
filment of a penance enjoined upon them, part 
of which penance seems to be the living by 
fraud and imposition." And shortly after- 
wards he remarks : " Nor do they derive any 
authority for such a practice from those words 
in Exodus,* <et quasi signum in manutua,' as 
that passage does not treat of chiromancy, 
but of the festival of unleavened bread ; the 
observance of which, in order that it might 
be memorable to the Hebrews, the sacred his- 
torian said should be as a sign upon the hand; 
a metaphor derived from those who, when 
they wish to remember any thing, tie a thread 
round their finger, or put a ring upon it; and 
still less I ween does that chapter of Jobf 
speak in their favour, where is written, « Qui 
in manu hominis signat, ut norint omnes 
opera sua,' because the divine power is meant 
thereby which is preached to those here be- 
low: for the hand is intended for power and 
magnitude, Exod. chap. xiv.,| or stands for 
free will, which is placed in a man's hand, 

* Exodus, chap. xiii. v. 9. " And it shall be for a sign 
unto thee upon thy hand." Enjr. Trans. 

t No chapter in the book of Job contains any such 
verse. J i 

X " And the children of Israel went out with a high 
.hand " Exodus, chap. xiv. v. 8. Eng. Trans. I 



that is, in his power. Wisdom, chapter 
xxxvi. ' In manibus abscondit lucem,' "* &c. 
&c. &c. 

No, no, good Torreblanca, we know per- 
fectly well that the witch-wives of Multan, 
who for the last four hundred years have been 
running about Spain and other countries, 
telling fortunes by the hand, and deriving 
good profit from the same, are not counte- 
nanced in such a practice by the sacred 
volume; we yield as little credit to their chi- 
romancy as we do to that which you call the 
true and catholic, and believe that the lines 
of the hand have as little connexion with the 
events of life as with the liver and stomach, 
notwithstanding Aristotle, who you forget 
was a heathen, and knew as little and cared 
as little for the scriptures as the Gitanos, 
whether male or female, who little reck what 
sanction any of their practices may receive 
from authority, whether divine or human, if 
the pursuit enable them to provide sufficient 
for the existence, however poor and miserable, 
of their families and themselves. 

A very singular kind of women are the Gi- 
tanas, far more remarkable in most points 
than their husbands, in whose pursuits of low 
cheating and petty robbery there is little ca- 
pable of exciting much interest; but if there 
be one being in the world who, more than 
another, deserves the title of sorceress, (and 
where do you find a word of greater romance 
and more thrilling interest 1) it is the Gypsy 
female in the prime and vigour of her age and 
ripeness of her understanding — the Gypsy 
wife, the mother of two or three children. 
Mention to me a point of devilry with which 
that woman is not acquainted. She can at 
any time, when it suits her, show herself as 
expert a jockey as her husband, and he ap- 
pears to advantage in no other character, and 
is only eloquent when descanting on the 
merits of some particular animal ; but she 
can do much more; she is a prophetess, though 
she believes not in prophecy; she is a physi- 
cian, though she will not taste her own phil- 
ters ; she is a procuress, though she is not to be 
procured ; she is a singer of obscene songs, 
though she will suffer no obscene hand to touch 
her; and though no one is more tenacious of the 
little she possesses, she is a cut-purse and a 
shop-lifter whenever opportunity shall offer. 

In all times, since we have known anything 
of these women, they have been addicted to 
and famous for fortune-telling ; indeed, it is 
their only ostensible means of livelihood, 
though they have various others which they 
pursue more secretly. Where and how they 
first learned the practice we know not ; they 
may have brought it with them from the East, 
or they may have adopted it, which is less 
likely, after their arrival in Europe. Chiro- 
mancy, from the most remote periods, has 
been practised in all countries. Neither do 
we know, whether in this practice they were 
ever guided by fixed and certain rules ; the 
probability, however, is, that they were not, 
and that they never followed it but as a means 

* No such verse is to be found in the book mentioned. 



36 



THE ZINCAL1 



of fraud and robbery; certainly, amongst all 
the professors of this art that ever existed, no 
people are more adapted by nature to turn it 
to account than these females, call them by 
whatever name you will, Gitanas, Ziganas, 
Gypsies, or Bohemians; their forms, their 
features, the expression of their countenances 
are ever wild and Sibylline, frequently beau- 
tiful, but never vulgar. Observe, for example, 
the Gitana, even her of Seville. 

She is standing before the portal of a large 
house in one of the narrow Moorish streets of 
the capital of Andalusia: through the grated 
iron door, she looks in upon the court; it is 
paved with small marble slabs of almost snowy 
whiteness; in the middle is a fountain dis- 
tilling limpid water, and all around there is a 
profusion of macetas, in which flowery plants 
and aromatic shrubs are growing, and at each 
corner there is an orange tree, and the per- 
fume of the azahar may be distinguished ; you 
hear the melody of birds from a small aviary 
beneath the piazza which surrounds The court, 
which is surmounted by a toldo or linen awn- 
ing, for it is the commencement of May, and 
the glorious sun of Andalusia is burning with 
a splendour too intense for his rays to be 
borne with impunity. It is a fairy scene such 
as no where meets the eye but at Seville, or 
perhaps at Fez and Shiraz, in the palaces of 
the Sultan and the Shah. The Gypsy looks 
through the iron-grated door, and beholds, 
seated near the fountain, a richly dressed 
dame and two lovely delicate maidens; they 
are busied at their morning's occupation, in- 
tertwining with their sharp needles the gold 
and silk on the tambour ; several female at- 
tendants are seated behind. The Gypsy 
pulls the bell, when is heard the soft cry of 
" Quien es ;" the door, unlocked by means of 
a string, recedes upon its hinges, when in 
walks the Gitana, the witch-wife of Multan, 
with a look such as the tiger-cat casts when 
she stealeth from her jungle unto the plain. 

Yes, well may you exclaim "Ave Maria 
purisima," ye dames and maidens of Seville, 
as she advances towards you ; she is not of 
yourselves, she is not of your blood, she or 
her fathers have walked to your clime from a 
distance of three thousand leagues. She has 
come from the far East, like the three en- 
chanted kings to Cologne; but unlike them 
she and her race have come with hate and 
not with love. She comes to flatter, and to 
deceive, and to rob, for she is a lying pro- 
phetess, and a she Thus 1 ; she will greet you 
with blessings which will make your hearts 
rejoice, but your heart's blood would freeze, 
could you hear the curses which to herself 
she murmurs against you ; for she says, " that 
in her children's veins flows the dark blood 
of the 'husbands,' whilst in those of yours 
flows the pale tide of the savages," and there- 
fore she would. gladly set her foot on all your 
corses first poisoned by her hands. For all 
her love — and she can love — is for the Romas ; 
and all her hate — and who can hate like her'! 
— is for the Busnees; for she says that the 
world would be a fair world were there v.o 



Busnees, and if the Romamiks could heat 
their kettles undisturbed at the foot of the 
olive trees ; and therefore she would kill them 
all if she could and if she dared. She never 
seeks the houses of the Busnees but for the 
purpose of prey; for the wild animals of the 
sierra do not more abhor the sight of man, 
than she abhors the countenances of the Bus- 
nees. She now comes to prey upon you and 
to scoff at you. Will you believe her words 1 
Fools ! do you think that the being before ye 
has any sympathy for the like of you? 

She is of the middle stature, neither strongly 
nor slightly built, and yet her every movement 
denotes agility and vigour. As she stands 
erect before you, she appears like a falcon 
about to soar, and you are almost tempted to 
believe that the power of volition is hers ; and 
were you to stretch forth your hand to seize 
her, she would spring above the house-tops 
like a bird. Her face is oval, and her features 
are regular but somewhat hard and coarse, 
for she was born amongst rocks in a thicket, 
and she has been wind-beaten and sun- 
scorched for many a year, even like her pa- 
rents before her; there is many a speck upon 
her cheek, and perhaps a scar, but no dimples 
of love ; and her brow is wrinkled over, though 
she is yet young. Her complexion is more 
than dark, for it is almost that of a mulatto; 
and her hair, which hangs in long locks on 
either side of her face, is black as a coal, and 
coarse as the tail of a horse, from which it 
seems to have been gathered. 

There is no female eye in Seville can sup- 
port the glances of hers, so fierce and pene- 
trating, and yet so artful and sly, is the ex- 
pression of their dark orbs ; her mouth is fine 
and almost delicate, and there is not a queen 
on the proudest throne between Madrid and 
Moscow who might not, and would not, envy 
the white and even rows of teeth which adorn 
it, which seem not of pearl but of the purest 
elephant's bone of Multan. She comes not 
alone ; a swarthy two-year old bantling clasps 
her neck with one arm, its naked body half 
extant from the coarse blanket which, drawn 
round her shoulders, is secured at her bosom 
by a skewer. Though tender of age it looks 
wicked and sly, like a veritable imp of Roma. 
Huge rings of false gold dangle from wide 
slits in the lobes of her ears; hernether gar- 
ments are rags, and her feet are cased in 
hempen sandals. Such is the wandering Gi- 
tana, such is the witch-wife of Multan, who 
has come to spae the fortune of the Sevillian 
countess and her daughters. 

" O may the blessing of Egypt light upon 
your head, you high-born lady! (May an 
evil end overtake your body, daughter of a 
Busnee harlot!) and may the same blessing 
await the two fair roses of the Nile here 
flowering by your side! (May evil Moors seize 
them and carry them across the water!) O 
listen to the words of the poor woman who 
is come from a distant country; she is of a 
wise people, though it has pleased the God 
of the sky to punish them for their sins by 
sending them to wander through the world. 



TRICKS Or THE GITANAS. 



37 



They denied shelter to the Majari, whom you 
call the queen of heaven, and to the Son of 
God, when they flew to the .land of Egypt, 
before the wrath of the wicked king; it is 
said that they even refused them a draught 
of the sweet waters of the great river when 
the blessed two were athirst. O you will 
say that it was a heavy crime ; and truly so 
it was, and heavily has the Lord punished the 
Egyptians. He has sent us a-wandering, 
poor as you see, with scarcely a blanket to 
cover us. O, blessed lady, (accursed be thy 
dead as many as thou mayest have,) we have 
no money to purchase us bread ; we have 
only our wisdom with which to support our- 
selves and our poor hungry babes; when God 
took away their silks from the Egyptians., 
and their gold from the Egyptians, he left 
them their wisdom as a resource that they 
might not starve. O who can read the stars 
like the Egyptians'? and who can read the 
lines of the palm like the Egyptians'? The 
poor woman read in the stars that there was 
a rich ventura for all of this goodly house, so 
she followed the bidding of the stars and 
came to declare it. O, blessed lady, (I defile 
thy dead corse,) your husband is at Granada, 
fighting with king Ferdinand against the wild 
Corohai ! (May an evil ball smite him and 
split his head!) Within three months he 
shall return with twenty captive Moors, round 
the neck of oach a chain of gold. (God grant 
that when he enter the house a beam may 
fall upon hirn and crush him !) And within 
nine months after his return God shall bless 
you with a fair chabo, the pledge for which 
you have sighed so long ! (Accursed be the 
salt placed in its mouth in the church when 
it is baptized !) Your palm, blessed lady, 
your palm, and the palms of all I see here, 
that I may tell you all the rich ventura which 
is hanging over this good house ; (May evil 
lightning fall upon it and consume it !) but 
first let me sing you a song of Egypt, that 
the spirit of the Chowahanee may descend 
more plenteously upon the poor woman." 

Her demeanour now instantly undergoes a 
change. Hitherto she has been pouring forth 
a lying and wild harangue, without much 
flurry or agitation of manner. Her speech, 
it is true, has been rapid, but her voice has 
never been raised to a very high key; but she 
now stamps on the ground, and placing her 
hands on her lips, she moves quickly to the 
right and left, advancing and retreating in a 
side-long direction. Her glances become 
more fierce and fiery, and her coarse hair 
stands erect on her head, stiff* as the prickles 
of the hedgehog; and now she commences 
clapping her hands, and uttering words of an 
unknown tongue, to a strange and uncouth 
tune. The tawny bantling seems inspired 
with the same fiend, and, foaming at the 
mouth, utters wild sounds, in imitation of j 
its dam. Still more rapid become the side- j 
long movements of theGitana. Movements! \ 
she springs, she bounds, and at every bound j 
she is a yard above the ground. She no ' 
longer bears the child in "her bosom; she 
6 



plucks it from thence, and fiercely brandishes 
it aloft, till at last, with a yell, she tosses it 
high into the air, like a ball, and then, with 
neck and head thrown back, receives it, as 
it falls, on her hands and breast, extracting 
a cry from the terrified beholders. Is it pos- 
sible she can be singing 1 ? Yes, in the wildest 
style of her people ; and here is a snatch of 
the song, in the language of Roma, which 
she occasionally screams. 

" En los sastos de yesque plai me diquelo, 
Doscusanas de sonacai teredo,— 
Corojai diquelo abillar, 
Y ne asislo chapescar, chapescar." 

" On the top of a mountain I stand, 
With a crown of red gold in my hand, — 
Wild Moors come trooping o'er the lea, 
O how from their fury shall I flee, flee, flee? 
O how from their fury shall I flee .?" 

Such was the Gitana in the days of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella, and much the same is she 
now in the days of Isabel and Christina. 

Of the Gitanas and their practices, I shall 
have much to say on a future occasion, when 
speaking of those of the present time, with 
many of whom I have had no little inter- 
course. All the ancient Spanish authors who 
mention these women, speak of them in un- 
measured terms of abhorrence, employing 
against them every abusive word contained in 
the language in which they wrote. Amongst 
other vile names, they have been called har- 
lots, though perhaps no females on earth are, 
and have ever been, more chaste in their own 
persons, though at all times willing to en- 
courage licentiousness in others, from a hope 
of gain. It is one thing to be a procuress, 
and another to be a harlot, though the former 
has assuredly no reason to complain, if she 
be confounded with the latter. "The Gita- 
nas," says Doctor Sancho de Moncado, in 
his discourse concerning the Gypsies, which 
I shall presently lay before the reader, "are 
public harlots, common, as it is said, to all 
the Gitanos, and with dances, demeanour, 
and filthy songs, are the cause of infinite 
harm to the souls of the vassals of your 
Majesty, (Philip III.,) as it is notorious what 
infinite harm they have caused in many ho- 
nourable houses. The married women whom 
they have separated from their husbands, and 
the maidens whom they have perverted ; and 
finally, in the best of these Gitanas, any one 
may recognise all the signs of a harlot given 
by the wise king: 'they are gadders about, 
whisperers, always unquiet in the places and 
corners.'"* 

The author of Alonso, he who of all the 
old Spanish writers has written most graphi- 
cally concerning the Gitanos, and I believe 
with most correctness, puts the following 
account of the Gitanas, and their fortune- 
telling practices, into the entertaining mouth 
of his hero: 

"O how many times did these Gitanas 



* Prnv chnp. vii. vers. 11 12. " She i> loud and stub- 
born; her feet abide not in her house. Now i* she with- 
out, now in the streets, and Iielh in wait at ever} cor 
ner." EHg.'Trana. 



38 



THE Z1NCALI. 



carry me along with them, for being, after 
all, women, even they have their fears, and 
were glad of me as a protector; and so they 
went through the neighbouring villages, and 
entered the houses a-begging, giving to un- 
derstand thereby their poverty and necessity, 
and then they would call aside the girls, in 
order to tell them the buena ventura, and the 
young fellows the good luck which they were 
to enjoy, never failing in the first place to 
ask for a cuarto, or a real, in order to make 
the sign of the cross ; and with these flatter- 
ing words they got as much as they could, 
although, it is true, not much in money, as 
their harvest in that article was generally 
slight ; but enough in bacon to afford subsist- 
ence to their husbands and bantlings. I 
looked on and laughed at the simplicity of 
those foolish people, who, especially such as 
wished to be married, were as satisfied and 
content with what the Gitana told them, as 
if an apostle had spoken it." 

The above description of Gitanas telling 
fortunes amongst the villages of Navarre, 
and which was written by a Spanish author 
at the commencement of the seventeenth 
century, is, in every respect, applicable, as 
the reader will not fail to have observed, to 
the English Gypsy women of the present day 
engaged in the same occupation in the rura. 
districts of England, where the first demand 
of the sibyls is invariably a sixpence, in order 
that they may cross their hands with silver, 
and where the same promises are made and 
as easily believed ; all which, if it serves to 
confirm the opinion that in all times the prac- 
tices and habits of the Egyptian race have 
been, in almost all respeets, the same as at 
the present day, brings us also to the follow- 
ing mortifying conclusion, — that mental illu- 
mination, amongst the generality of mankind, 
has made no progress at all ; as we observe 
in the nineteenth century the same gross 
credulity manifested as in the seventeenth, 
and the inhabitants of one of the countries 
most celebrated for the arts of civilization, 
imposed upon by the same stale tricks which 
served to deceive two centuries before in 
Spain, a country whose name has long and 
justly been considered as synonymous with 
every species of ignorance and barbarism. 

The same author, whilst speaking of these 
female Thugs, relates an anecdote very cha- 
racteristic of them ; a device at which they 
are adepts, which they love to employ, and 
which is generally attended with success. 
It is the more deserving attention, as an in- 
stance of the same description, attended with 
very similar circumstances, occurred within 
the sphere of my own knowledge in my own 
country. This species of deceit is styled, in 
the peculiar language of the Rommany, hok- 
kano baro, or the "great trick;" it" being 
considered by the women as their most fruit- 
ful source of plunder. The story, as related 
by Alonso, runs as follows: 

"A band of Gitanos being in the neigh- 
bourhood of a village, one of the women 
went to a house where lived a lady alone. 



This lady was a young \vidow, rich, without 
children, and of very handsome person. Af- 
ter having saluted her, the Gypsy repeated 
the harangue which she had already studied,, 
to the effect that there was neither bachelor, 
widower, nor married man, nobleman, nor 
gallant, endowed with a thousand graces, 
who was not dying for love of her; and then 
continued ; "Lady, I have contracted a great 
affection for you, and since I know that fou 
will merit the riches you possess, notwith- 
standing you live heedless of your good for- 
tune, I wish to reveal to you a secret. You 
must know then, that in your cellar you have 
a vast treasure; nevertheless you will expe- 
rience great difficulty in arriving at it, as it 
is enchanted, and to remove it is impossible, 
save and alone on the eve of St. John. We 
are now at the eighteenth of June, and it 
wants five days to the twenty-third ; there- 
fore, in the meanwhile, collect some jewels 
of gold and silver, and likewise some money, 
whatever you please, provided it be not cop- 
per, and provide six tapers of white or yellow 
wax, for at the time appointed I will come 
with a sister of mine, when we will extract 
from the cellar such abundance of riches, that 
you will be able to live in a style which will 
excite the envy of the whole country." The 
ignorant widow, hearing these words, put 
implicit confidence in the deceiver, and ima- 
gined that she already possessed all the gold 
of Arabia and the silver of Potosi. 

"The appointed day arrived, and not more 
punctual were the two Gypsies, than anx- 
iously expected by the lady. Being asked 
whether she had prepared all as she had been 
desired, she replied in the affirmative, when 
he Gypsy thus addressed her: "You must 
know, good lady, that gold calls forth gold, 
and silver calls forth silver; let us light these 
tapers, and descend to the cellar before it 
grows late, in order that we may have time 
for our conjurations." Thereupon the trio', 
the widow and the two Gypsies, went down, 
and having lighted the "tapers and placed 
<hem in candlesticks in the shape of a circle, 
they deposited in the midst a silver tankard, 
with some pieces of eight, and some corals 
tipped with gold, and other jewels of small 
value. They then told the lady that it was 
necessary for them all to return to the stair- 
case by which they had descended to the 
cellar, and there they uplifted their hands, 
and remained for a short time as if engaged 
in prayer. 

"The two Gypsies then bade the widow 
wait for them, and descended again, when 
they commenced holding a conversation, 
speaking and answering alternately, and al- 
tering their voices in such a manner that five 
or six people appeared to be in the cellar. 
"Blessed be little St. John," said one, "will 
it be possible to remove the treasure which 
you keep hidden here?" "O yes, and with 
little more trouble it shall be yours," replied 
tlit- Gypsy sister, altering her voice to a thin 
treble, as if it proceeded from a child four or 
five years old. In the mean time, the lady 



THE EVIL EYE. 



39 



remained astonished, expecting the promised 
riches and the two Gitanas presently coming 
to her, said, "Come up, lady, for our desire 
is upon the point of being gratified. Bring 
now the best petticoat, gown, and mantle 
which you have in your chest, that I may 
dress myself, and appear in other guise to 
what I do now." The simple woman, not 
perceiving the trick they were playing upon 
her, ascended with them to the door-way, 
and leaving them alone went to fetch the 
things which they demanded. Thereupon 
the two Gypsies, seeing themselves at liberty, 
and having already pocketed the gold and 
silver which had been deposited for the con- 
juration, opened the street-door, and escaped 
with all the speed they could. 

"The beguiled widow returned laden with 
the clothes, and not finding those whom she 
had left waiting, descended into the cellar, 
when perceiving the trick which they had 
played her, and the robbery which they had 
committed in stealing her jewels, she began 
to cry and weep, but all in vain. All the 
neighbours hastened to her, and to them she 
related her misfortune, which served more to 
raise laughter and jeers at her expense, than 
to excite pity; though the subtlety of the two 
she-thieves was universally praised. These 
latter, as soon as they had got out of the 
door, knew well how to conceal themselves, 
for having once reached the mountain, it was 
not possible to find them. So much for their 
divination, their foreseeing things to come, 
their power over the secrets of nature, and 
their knowledge of the stars." 

The Gitanas in the olden time appear to 
have not un frequently been subjected to pu- 
nishment as sorceresses, and with great jus- 
tice, as the abominable trade which they have 
always driven in philters and decoctions, 
certainly entitled them to that appellation, 
and to the pains and penalties reserved for 
those who practised what is generally termed 
" witchcraft." 

Amongst the crimes laid to their charge, 
connected with the exercise of occult pow- 
ers, there is one, however, of which they 
were certainly not capable, as it is a purely 
imaginary one, though if they were ever 
punished" for it, they had assuredly little right 
to complain, as the chastisement they met 
was fully merited by practices equally malefic 
as the crime imputed to them, provided that 
were possible. It was casting the evil eye. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE EVIL EYE. — CREDULITY OF THE JEWS 
AND MOORS. — THE JEWESS OF FEZ. — THE 
BIBLE AND KEY. — REMEDIES FOR THE EVIL 

EYE. THE TALMUD. — SUPERSTITIONS OF 

THE NORTH. 

In the Gitano language, casting the evil 
eye is called Querelar nasula, which simply 



means making sick, and which, according to 
the common superstition, is accomplished by 
casting an evil look at people, especially 
children, who, from the tenderness of their 
constitution, are supposed to be more easily 
blighted than those of a more mature age. 
After receiving the evil glance, they fall sick, 
and die in a {"ew hours. 

The Spaniards have very little to say re- 
specting the evil eye, though the belief in it 
is very prevalent, especially in Andalusia, 
amongst the lower orders, A stag's horn is 
considered a good safeguard, and on that ac- 
count, a small horn, tipped with silver, is 
frequently attached to the children's necks 
by means of a cord braided from the hair of 
a black mare's tail. Should the evil glance 
be cast, it is imagined that the horn receives 
it, and instantly snaps asunder. Such horns 
may be purchased in some of the silver- 
smiths' shops at Seville. ' 

The Gitanos have nothing more to say on 
this species of sorcery than the Spaniards, 
which can cause but little surprise, when we 
consider that they have no traditions, and 
can give no rational account of themselves, 
nor of the country from which they come. 

Some of the women, however, pretend to 
have the power of casting it, though if ques- 
tioned how they accomplished it, they can re- 
turn no answer. They will likewise sell re- 
medies for the evil eye, which need not be 
particularized, as they consist of any drugs 
which they happen to possess or be acquainted 
with ; the prescribers being perfectly reckless 
as to the effect produced on the patient, pro- 
vided they receive their paltry reward. 

I have known these beings offer to cure the 
glanders in a horse, (an incurable disorder,) 
with the very same powders which they offer 
as a specific for the evil eye. 

Leaving, therefore, for a time, the Spa- 
niards and Gitanos, whose ideas on this sub- 
ject are very scanty and indistinct, let us turn 
to other nations amongst whom this super- 
stition exists, and endeavour to ascertain on 
what it is founded, and in what it consists. 
It is current amongst all oriental people, 
whether Turks, Arabs, or Hindoos; but per- 
haps there is no nation in the world amongst 
whom the belief is so firmly rooted, and from 
so ancient a period, as the Jews; it being a 
subject treated of, and in the gravest manner, 
by the old rabbinical writers themselves, 
which induces the conclusion that the super- 
stition of the evil eye is of an antiquity almost 
as remote as the origin of the Hebrew race; 
(and can we go farther back?) as the oral 
traditions of the Jews, contained and com- 
mented upon in what is called the Talmud, 
are certainly not less ancient than the in- 
spired writings of the Old Testament, and 
have unhappily been at all times regarded by 
them with equal, if not greater reverence. 

The evil eye is mentioned in Scripture, but 
of course not in the false and superstitious 
sense ; evil in the eye, which occurs in Prov. 
xxiii. v. 6, merely denoting niggardliness and 
iilliberality. The Hebrew words arc ain ra, 



40 



THE ZINCALI, 



and stand in contradistinction to ain toub, or ! 
the benignant in eye, which denotes an in- 
clination to bounty and liberality. 

The Rabbins have said, " For one person 
who dies of sickness, there are ten who die 
by the evil eye." And as the Jews, espe- 
cially those of the East, and of Barbary, place 
implicit confidence in all that the Rabbins 
have written, we can scarcely wonder if, at 
the present day, they dread this visitation 
more than the cholera or the plague. " The 
leech," they say "can cure those disorders, but 
who is capable of curing the evil eye?" 

It is imagined that this blight is most easily 
•inflicted when a person is enjoying himself, 
with little or no care for the future; when he 
is reclining in the sun before his door, or 
when he is full of health and spirits, but prin- 
cipally when he is eating and drinking, on 
which account the Jews and Moors are jea- 
lous of the appearance of strangers when they 
are taking their meals. 

The evil eye may be cast by an ugly or ill- 
favoured person, either designedly or not, and 
the same effect may be produced by an inad- 
vertent word. It is deemed very unlucky to 
say to a person diverting himself, How merry 
you are ; or to one whilst eating, How fat you 
are; as such persons are said to receive a 
sudden blight, and perish. Never, amongst 
Jews or Mahometans, nor indeed amongst any 
eastern people, stop to gaze on a child, or to 
caress it, for it will be thought that you are 
about to give it the evil eye. I was acquainted 
with a very handsome Jewess of Fez ; she 
had but one eye, but that one was particularly 
brilliant. On asking her how she lost its fel- 
low, she informed me that she was once stand- 
ing in the street at night-fall, when she was 
a little girl ; a Moor that was passing by sud- 
denly stopped, and said, " Tswac Ullah, 
(blessed be God,) how beautiful are your eyes, 
my child !" whereupon she went into the 
house, but was presently seized with a dread- 
ful pain in the left eye, which continued during 
the night, and the next day the pupil came 
out of the socket. She added, that she did 
not believe the Moor had any intention of 
hurting her, as he gazed on her so kindly; but 
that it was very thoughtless in him to utter 
words which are sure to convey evil luck. It 
is said to be particularly dangerous to eat in 
the presence of a woman, for the evil eye, if 
cast by a woman, is far more fatal and difficult 
to cure than if cast by a man. There are said 
to be various ways of curing the evil eye. The 
following is much in vogue amongst the Jews 
of Barbary. 

When any one falls sick of the evil eye, he 
must instantly call in to his assistance the 
man cunning in such cases. The man, on 
coming, takes either a girdle or a handker- 
chief from off his own person, and ties a knot 
at either end, then he measures three spans 
with his left hand, and at the end of these 
three he fastens a knot and folds it three times 
round his head, pronouncing this bcraka, or 
blessing: "Ben porat Josef, ben porat ali 
ain ;*' (Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful 



bough by a well ;) he then recommences mea. 
suring the girdle or handkerchief, and if he 
finds three spans and a half, instead of the 
three which he formerly measured, he is ena- 
bled to tell the name of the person who cast 
the evil eye, whether male or female. 

It will be as well to observe, in this stage 
of the process, that it very much resembles 
the charm of the Bible and key, by which 
many persons in England still pretend to be 
able to discover the thief when an article is 
missed. A key is placed in the Bible, at that 
part which is called Solomon's Song; the 
Bible and key are then fastened strongly to- 
gether by means of a ribbon, which is wound 
round the Bible, and passed several times 
through the handle of the key, which projects 
from the top of the book. The diviner then 
causes the person robbed to name the names 
of any person or persons whom he may sus 
pect. The two parties, the robbed and the 
diviner, then standing up, support the book 
between them, the ends of the handle of the 
key resting on the tips of the fore-fingers of 
the right hand. The diviner then inquires of 
the Bible whether such a one committed the 
theft, and commences repeating the sixth and 
seventh verses of the eighth chapter of the 
Song; and if the Bible and key turn round in 
the mean time, the person named is consi- 
dered guilty. This charm has been, and still 
is, the source of infinite mischief, innocent 
individuals having frequently irretrievably 
lost their character amongst their neighbours, 
from recourse being had to the Bible and key. 
The slightest motion of the finger, or rather 
of the nail, will cause the key to revolve, so 
that the people named are quite at the mercy 
of the diviner, who is generally a cheat, or 
professed conjurer, and not ^infrequently a 
Gypsy. In like manner, the Barbary cunning 
man, by a slight contraction of his hand, 
measures three and a half spans, where he 
first measured three, and then pretends to 
know the person who has cast the evil eye, 
having, of course, first ascertained the names 
of those with whom his patient has been lately 
in company. 

When the person who has cast the evil 
eye has been discovered by means of the 
magical process already described, the mo- 
ther, or wife, or sister of the sufferer walks 
forth, pronouncing the name of the latter 
with a loud voice, and making the best of her 
way to the house of the person guilty, takes 
a little of the earth from before the frontdoor 
of the house, and a little from before the door 
of his or her sleeping apartment. Some of 
the saliva of the culprit is then demanded, 
which must be given early in the morning be- 
fore breakfast ; then the mother, or the wife, 
or the sister, goes to the oven and takes from 
thence seven burning coals, which are slaked 
in water from the bath in which the women 
bathe. The four ingredients, earth, saliva, 
coals, and water, are then mixed together in 
a dish, and the patient is made to take three 
sips, and what remains is taken to a private 
place and buried, the person who buries it 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NORTH. — EXODUS OF THE JEWS. 



41 



having to make three paces backwards, ex- 
claiming, "May the evil eye be buried be- 
neath the earth." Such are the magic for- 
mulae practised when the person who cast the 
evil eye is known. Should the cunning man 
be unable to ascertain who the person is, they 
take a glass, and going to the door, compel 
every person who passes to drop therein a 
small portion of his saliva, which is after- 
wards mixed with the water of the bath in 
which the burning coals have been slaked, 
and either drank, as above described, or ap- 
plied to the eye or body of the patient. The 
sick man sleeps that night on his left side, 
and, when he arises in the morning, feels 
himself cured, and will never more be afflicted 
by it. Many people carry papers about with 
them, scrawled with hieroglyphics, which are 
prepared by the hacumim, or sages, and sold. 
These papers, placed in a little bag and hung 
about the person, are deemed infallible pre- 
servatives from the " ain ara." 

Let us now see what the Talmud itself 
says about the evil eye. The passage which 
we are about to quote is curious, not so much 
from the subject which it treats of, as in af- 
fording an example of the manner in which 
the Rabbins are wont to interpret the Scrip- 
ture, and the strange and wonderful deduc- 
tions which they draw from words and phrases 
apparently of the greatest simplicity. 

" Whosoever when about to enter into a 
city is afraid of evil eyes, let him grasp the 
thumb of his right hand with his left hand, 
and his left hand thumb with his right hand, 
and let him cry in this manner: *I am such 
a one, son of such a one, sprung from the 
seed of Joseph;' and the evil eyes shall not 
prevail against him. Joseph is a fruitful 
bough, a fruitful bough by a well,* &c. 
Now you should not say by a well, but over 
an eye.j Rabbi Joseph Bar Henina makes 
the following deduction : and they shall be- 
come (the seed of Joseph) like fishes in mul- 
titude in the midst of the earth.\ Now the 
fishes of the sea are covered by the waters, 
and the evil eye has no power over them ; 
and so over those of the seed of Joseph the 
evil eye has no power." 

I have been thus diffuse upon the evil eye, 
because of late years it has been a common 
practice of writers to speak of it without ap- 
parently possessing any farther knowledge of 
the subject than what may be gathered from 
the words themselves. 

Like most other superstitions, it is, per- 
haps, founded on a physical reality. 

I have observed, that only in hot countries, 
where the sun and moon are particularly 
dazzling, is the belief in the evil eye preva- 
lent. If we turn to Scripture, the wonderful 
book which is capable of resolving every 



*Gen. xlix. 22. 

f In the original there is a play on words — It i3 not 
necessary to enter into particulars farther than to oh- 
serve that in the Hebrew language " ain " means a well, 
and likewise an eye. 

\ Gen. xlviii. 16. In the English version the exact 
sense of the inspired original is not conveyed. Tlie de- 
scendants of Joseph are to increase like fish. 



mystery, I believe that we shall presently 
come to the solution of the evil eye. "The 
sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon 
by night." Ps. cxxi. v. 6. 

Those who wish to avoid the evil eye, in- 
stead of trusting in charms, scrawls, and Rab- 
binical antidotes, let them never loiter in the 
sunshine before the king of day has nearly 
reached his bourne in the west; for the sun 
has an evil eye, and his glance produces brain 
fevers ; and let them not sleep uncovered be- 
neath the smile of the moon, for her glance 
is poisonous, and produces insupportable 
itching in the eye, and not unfrequently 
blindness. 

The northern nations have a superstition 
which bears some resemblance to the evil 
eye, when allowance is made for circum- 
stances. They have no brilliant sun and 
moon to addle the brain, and poison the eye, 
but the gray north has its marshes, and fenny 
ground, and fetid mists, which produce agues, 
low fevers, and moping madness, and are as 
fatal to cattle as to man. Such disorders are 
attributable to elves and fairies. This super- 
stition still lingers, in some parts of England, 
under the name of elf-shot, whilst, throughout 
the north, it is called elle-skiod, and elle-vild 
(fairy wild.) It is particularly prevalent 
amongst shepherds and cowherds, the people 
who, from their manner of life, are most ex- 
posed to the effects of the elf-shot. Those 
who wish to know more of this superstition, 
are referred to Thieles Danske Folkesagn, 
and to the notes of the Kcempe Viser, or 
popular Danish Ballads. 



CHAPTER X. 

EXODUS OF THE JEWS : THAT OF THE GYP- 
SIES. — INDIFFERENCE OF THE OITANOS 
WITH RESPECT TO RELIGION. — EZEKIEL. — 

TALE OF EGYPTIAN DESCENT. QUINONES. 

— MELCHIOR OF GUELAMA. RELIGIOUS 

TOLERANCE. — THE INQUISITOR OF COR- 
DOVA. — GITANOS AND MORISCOS. 

When the six hundred thousand men,* and 
the mixed multitude of women and children 
went forth from the land of Egypt, the God 
whom they worshipped, the only true God, 
went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, 
to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar 
of fire to give them light; this God who res- 
cued them from slavery, who guided them 
through the wilderness, who was their cap- 
tain in battle, and who cast down before them 
the strong walls which encompassed the 
towns of their enemies, this God they still re- 
member, after the lapse of more than three 
thousand years, and still worship with ado- 
ration the most unbounded. If there be one 
event in the eventful history of the Hebrews 

* Exodus, chap. xii. v. 37, 38. 

E 



42 



THE ZINC ALL 



which awakens in their minds deeper feelings 
of gratitude than another, it is the exodus, 
and that wonderful manifestation of olden 
mercy still serves them as an assurance that 
the Lord will yet one day redeem and gather 
together his scattered and oppressed people. 
"Art thou not the God who brought us out 
of the land of bondage ?" they exclaim in the 
days of their heaviest trouble and affliction. 
He who redeemed Israel from the hand of 
Pharaoh is yet capable of restoring the king- 
dom and sceptre to Israel. 

If the Rommany trusted in any God at the 
period of their exodus, they must speedily 
have forgotten him. Coming from Ind, as 
they most assuredly did, it was impossible 
for them to have known the true, and they 
must have been followers (if they followed 
any) either of Buddh, or Brahmah, those tre- 
mendous phantoms which have led, and are 
likely still to lead, the souls of hundreds of 
millions to destruction ; yet they are now 
ignorant of such names, nor does it appear 
that such were ever current amongst them 
subsequent to their arrival in Europe, if in- 
deed they ever were. They brought with 
them no Indian idols, as far as we are able to 
judge at the present time, nor indeed Indian 
rites or observances, for no traces of such 
are to be discovered amongst them. 

All, therefore, which relates to their ori- 
ginal religion is shrouded in mystery, and is 
likely so to remain. They may have been 
idolaters, or atheists, or what they now are, 
totally neglectful of worship of any kind; and 
though not exactly prepared to deny the ex- 
istence of a Supreme Being, as regardless 
of him as if he existed not, and never men- 
tioning his name save in oaths and blasphemy, 
or in moments of pain or sudden surprise, 
as they have heard other people do, but 
always* without any fixed belief, trust, or 
hope. 

There are certainly some points of resem- 
blance between the children of Roma and 
those of Israel. Both have had an exodus, 
both are exiles and dispersed amongst the 
gentiles, by whom they are hated and de- 
spised, and whom they hate and despise, 
under the names of Busnees and Goyim ; 
both, though speaking the language of the 
Gentiles, possess a peculiar tongue, which 
the latter do not understand, and both possess 
a peculiar cast of countenance, by which they 
may, without difficulty, be distinguished from 
all other nations ; but with these points the 
similarity terminates. The Israelites have 
a peculiar religion, to which they are fanati- 
cally attached, the Romas have none, as they 
invariably adopt, though only in appearance, 
that of the people with whom they chance 
to sojourn ; the Israelites possess the most 
authentic history of any people in the world, 
and arc acquainted with and delight to re- 
capitulate all that has befallen their race, 
from ages the most remote; the Romas have 
no history, they do not even know the name 
of their original country, and the only tradi- 
tion which they possess, that of their Egyp- 



tian origin, is a false one, whether invented 
by themselves or others ; the Israelites are 
of all people the most wealthy, the Romas 
the most poor; poor as a Gypsy being pro- 
verbial amongst some nations, though both 
are equally greedy of gain; and finally, though 
both are noted for peculiar craft and cunning, 
no people are more ignorant than the Romas, 
whilst the Jews have always been a learned 
people, being in possession of the oldest lite- 
rature in the world, and certainly the most 
important and interesting. 

Sad and weary must have been the path 
of the mixed rabble of the Romas when they 
left India's sunny land and wended their way 
to the West, in comparison with the glorious 
exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, whose 
God went before them in cloud and in fire, 
working miracles and astonishing the hearts 
of their foes. 

Even supposing that they worshipped 
Buddh or Brahmah, neither of these false 
deities could have accomplished for them 
what God effected for his chosen people, al- 
though it is true that the idea that a Supreme 
Being was watching over them, in return for 
the reverence paid to his image, might have 
cheered them 'midst storm and lightning, 
'midst mountains and wildernesses, 'midst 
hunger, and drought, for it is assuredly better 
to trust even in an idol, in a tree, or a stone, 
than to be entirely godless ; and the most 
superstitious hind of the Himalayan hills 
who trusts in the Grand Foutsa in the hour 
of peril and danger, is more wise than the 
most enlightened atheist, who cherishes no 
-consoling delusion to relieve his mind, op- 
pressed by the terrible ideas of reality. 

It is evident that the Romas arrived at the 
confines of Europe without any certain or 
rooted faith, for knowing, as we do, with 
what tenacity they retain their primitive 
habits and customs, their sect being, in all 
points, the same as it was four hundred years 
ago, it appears impossible that they should 
have forgotten their peculiar god, if in any 
peculiar god they trusted. 

Though cloudy ideas of the Indian deities 
might be occasionally floating in their minds, 
these ideas, doubtless, quickly passed away 
when they ceased to behold the pagodas and 
temples of Indian worship, and were no 
longer in contact with the enthusiastic adorers 
of the idols of the East ; they passed away 
even as the dim and cloudy ideas which they 
subsequently adopted of the Eternal and His 
Son, Mary and the saints would pass away 
when they ceased to be nourished by the sight 
of churches and crosses; for should it please 
the Almighty to reconduct the Romas to 
Indian climes, who can doubt that within half 
a century they would entirely forget all con- 
nected with the religion of the West! Any 
poor shreds of that faith which they bore 
with them they would drop by degrees as they 
would relinquish their European garments 
when they became old, and as they relin- 
quished their Asiatic ones to adopt those of 
Europe ; no particular dress makes a part of 



TALE OF EGYPTIAN DESCENT. 



43 



the things essential to the sect of Roma, so 
likewise no particular god and no particular 
religion. 

Where these people first assumed the name 
of Egyptians, or where that title was first 
bestowed upon them, it is difficult to de- 
termine; perhaps, however, in the eastern 
parts of Europe, where it should seem the 
grand body of this nation of wanderers made 
a halt for a considerable time, and where they 
are still to be found in greater numbers than 
in any other part. One thing is certain, that 
when they first entered Germany, which they 
speedily overran, they appeared under the 
character of Egyptians, doing penance for 
the sin of having refused hospitality to the 
Virgin and her Son, and, of course, as be- 
lievers in the Christian ftiith, notwithstanding 
that they subsisted by the perpetration of 
every kind of robbery and imposition; Aven- 
tinus (Annalibus Boiorum, 826) speaking of 
them says: "Adeo tamen vana superstitio 
hominum mentes, velut lethargus invasit, ut 
eos violari nefas putet, atque grassari futari 
imponere passim sinant." 

This singular story of banishment from 
Egypt, and wandering through the world for 
a periocUof seven years, for inhospitality dis- 
played to the Virgin, and which I find much 
difficulty in attributing to the invention of 
people so ignorant as the Romas, tallies 
strangely with the fate foretold to the ancient 
Egyptians in certain chapters of Ezekiel, so 
much so, indeed, that it seems to be derived 
from that source. The Lord is angry with 
Egypt because its inhabitants have been a 
staff of reed to the house of Israel, and thus 
he threatens them by the mouth of his pro- 
phet: 

"I will make the land of Egypt desolate 
in the midst of the countries that are desolate, 
and her cities among the cities that are laid 
waste shall be desolate forty years : and I 
will scatter the Egyptians among the na- 
tions, and will disperse them through the 
countries." Ezek. chap. xxix. v. 12. "Yet 
thus saith the Lord God; at the end of forty 
years will I gather the Egyptians from the 
people whither they were scattered," v. 13. 

"Thus saith the Lord; I will make the 
multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of 
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon." Chap. 
xxx. v. 10. 

" And I will scatter the Egyptians among 
the nations, and disperse them among the 
countries ; and they shall know that I am the 
Lord." Chap. xxx. v. 26. 

The reader will at once observe that the 
apocryphal tale which the Romas brought into 
Germany, concerning their origin and wan- 
derings, agrees in every material point with 
the sacred prophecy. The ancient Egyptians 
were to be driven from their country and 
dispersed amongst the nations, for a period 
of forty years, for having been the cause of 
Israel's backsliding, and for not. having known 
the Lord, — the modern pseudo Egyptians are 
to be dispersed among the nations for seven 
years, for having denied hospitality to the 



Virgin and her child. The prophecy seems 
only to have been remodelled for the purpose 
of suiting the taste of the time ; as no legend 
possessed much interest in which the Virgin 
did not figure, she and her child are here in- 
troduced instead of the Israelites, and the 
Lord of Heaven offended with the Egyp- 
tians ; and this legend appears to have been 
very well received in Germany, for a time at 
least; for, as Aventinus observes, it was es- 
teemed a crime of the first magnitude to offer 
any violence to the Egyptian pilgrims, who 
were permitted to rob on the highway, to 
commit larceny, and to practise every species 
of imposition with impunity. 

The tale, however, of the Romas could 
hardly have been invented by themselves, as 
they were, and still are, utterly unacquainted 
with the Scripture; it probably originated 
amongst the priests and learned men of the 
east of Europe, who, startled by the sudden 
apparition of bands of people foreign in ap- 
pearance and language, skilled in divination, 
and the occult arts, endeavoured to find in 
Scripture a clue to such a phenomenon ; the 
result of which was that the Romas of Hin- 
dustan were suddenly transformed into Egyp- 
tian penitents, a title which they have ever 
since borne in various parts of Europe. There 
are no means of ascertaining whether they 
themselves believed from the first in this 
story; they most probably took it on credit, 
more especially as they could give no ac- 
count of themselves, there being every reason 
for supposing that from time immemorial 
they had existed in the East as a thievish 
wandering sect, as they at present do in 
Europe, without history or traditions, and 
unable to look back for a period of eighty 
years. The tale moreover answered their 
purpose, as beneath the garb of penitence 
they could rob and cheat with impunity, for 
a time at least. One thing is certain, that 
in whatever manner the tale of their Egyp- 
tian descent originated, many branches of 
the sect place implicit confidence in it at the 
present day, more especially those of Eng- 
land and Spain. 

Even at the present time there are writers 
who contend that the Romas are the de- 
scendants of the ancient Egyptians, who 
were scattered amongst the nations by the 
Assyrians. This belief they principally found 
upon particular parts of the prophecy from 
which we have already quoted, and there is 
no lack of plausibility in the arguments which 
they deduce therefrom. The Egyptians, say 
they, were to fall upon the open fields, they 
were not to be brought together nor ga- 
thered ; they were to be dispersed through 
the countries, their idols were to be de- 
stroyed, and their images were to cease out 
of Noph ! In what people in the world do 
these denunciations appear to be verified 
save the Gypsies? — a people who pass their 
lives in the open fields, who are not gathered 
together, who arc dispersed through the 
countries, who have no idols, no images, nor 
any fixe-d or certain religion. 



44 



THE ZINCALI. 



In Spain, the want of religion amongst 
the Gitanos was speedily observed, and be- 
came quite as notorious as their want of 
honesty; they have been styled atheists, hea- 
then idolaters and Moors. In the little book 
of Quiiiones, we find the subject noticed in 
the following manner: 

"They do not understand what kind of 
thing the church is, and never enter it but 
for the purpose of committing sacrilege. 
They do not know the prayers; for I exa- 
mined them myself, males and females, and 
they knew them not, or if any, very imper- 
fectly. They never partake of the Holy 
Sacraments, and though they marry relations 
they procure no dispensations.* No one 
knows whether they are baptized. One of 
the five whom I caused to be hung a few days 
ago, was baptized in the prison, being at the 
time upwards of thirty years of age. Don 
Martin Fajardo says that two Gitanos and a 
Gitana, whom he hanged in the village of 
Torre Perojil, were baptized at the foot of 
the gallows, and declared themselves Moors. 

"They invariably look out, when they 
marry, if we can call theirs marrying, for the 
woman, most dexterous in pilfering and de- 
ceiving, caring nothing whether she is akin 
to them or married already,! for it is only 
necessary to keep her company and to call 
her wife. Sometimes they purchase them 
from their husbands, or receive them as 
pledges : so says, at least, Doctor Salazar de 
Mendoza. 

"Friar Melchior of Guelama states that 
he heard asserted of two Gitanos what was 
never yet heard of any barbarous nation, 
namely, that they exchanged their wives, 
and that as one was more comely-looking 
than the other, he who took the handsome 
woman gave a certain sum of money to him 
who took the ugly one. The licentiate 
Alonzo Duran has certified to me that, in 
the year 1623-4, one Simon Ramirez, cap- 
tain of a band of Gitanos, repudiated Teresa 
because she was old, and married one called 
Melchora, who was young and handsome, 
and that on the day when the repudiation 
took place and the bridal was celebrated he 
was journeying along the road, and perceived 
a company feasting and revelling beneath 
some trees in a plain within the jurisdiction 
of the village of Deleitosa, and that on de- 
manding the cause he was told that it was 
on account of Simon Ramirez marrying one 
Gitana and casting off another; and that the 
repudiated woman told him, with an agony 
of tears, that he abandoned her because she 
was old, and married another because she 
was young. Certain Gitanos and Gitanas 
confessed before Don Martin Fajardo that 
they did not really marry, but that in their 
banquets and festivals they selected the wo- 
man whom they liked, and that it was lawful 
for them to have as many as three mistresses, 
and on that account they begat so many 

* Quiiiones, p. 11. 

t The writer will hy no menus answer for the truth 
of these statements respecting Gypsy miurlnges. 



children. They never keep fasts nor any 
ecclesiastical command. They always eat 
meat, Friday and Lent not excepted; the 
morning when I seized those whom I after- 
wards executed, which was in Lent, they had 
three lambs which they intended to eat for 
their dinner that day." — Quiiiones, page 13. 
Although what is stated in the above ex- 
tracts, respecting the marriages of the Gitanos 
and their licentious manner of living, is, for 
the most part, incorrect, there is no reason 
to conclude the same with respect to their 
want of religion in the olden time, and their 
slight regard for the forms and observances 
of the church, as their behaviour at the pre- 
sent day serves to confirm what is said on 
those points. From the whole, we may form 
a tolerably correct idea of the opinions of the 
time respecting the Gitanos in matters of 
morality and religion. A very natural ques- 
tion now seems to present itself, namely; 
what steps did the government of Spain, civil 
and ecclesiastical, which has so often trum- 
peted its zeal in the cause of what it calls 
the Christian religion, which has so often 
been the scourge of the Jew, of the Maho- 
metan, and of the professors of the reformed 
faith ; what steps did it take towards convert- 
ing, punishing, and rooting out from Spain, 
a sect of demi-atheists, who, besides being 
cheats and robbers, disr. layed the most marked 
indifference for the forms of the Catholic re- 
ligion, and presumed to eat flesh every day, 
and to intermarry with their relations, with- 
out paying the vicegerent of Christ here on 
earth for permission so to do"? 

The Gitanos have at all times, since their 
first appearance in Spain, been notorious for 
their contempt of religious observances; yet 
there is no proof that they were subjected to 
persecution on that account. The men have 
been punished as robbers and murderers, with 
the gallows and the galleys ; the women, as 
thieves and sorceresses, with imprisonment, 
flagellation, and sometimes death; but as a 
rabble, living without fear of God, and, by so 
doing, affording an evil example to the nation 
at large, few people gave themselves much 
trouble about them, though they may have 
occasionally been designated as such in a 
royal edict, intended to check their robberies, 
or by some priest from the pulpit, from whose 
stable they had perhaps contrived to extract 
the mule which previously had the the honour 
of ambling beneath his portly person. 

The Inquisition, which burnt so many Jews 
and Moors, and conscientious Christians, at 
Seville and Madrid, and in other parts of 
Spain, seems to have exhibited the oreatest 
clemency and forbearance to the Gitanos. 
Indeed, we cannot find one instance of its 
having interferred with them. The charge 
of restraining the excesses of the Gitanos, 
was abandoned entirely to the secular autho- 
rities, and more particularly to the Santa 
Hermandad, a kind of police instituted for 
the purpose of clearing the roads of robbers. 
Whilst 1 resided at Cordova, I was acquainted 
with an aged ecclesiastic, who was priest of d 



THE EXPULSION OF THE GITANOS. 



45 



village called Puente, at about two leagues' 
distance from the city. He was detained in 
Cordova on account of his political opinions, 
though he was otherwise at liberty. We 
lived together at the same house; and he 
frequently visited me in my apartment. 

This person, who was upwards of eighty 
years of age, had formerly been inquisitor at 
Cordova. One night, whilst we were seated 
together, three Gitanos. entered to pay me a 
visit, and on observing the old ecclesiastic, 
exhibited every mark of dissatisfaction, and, 
speaking in their own idiom, called him a 
balichow, and abused priests in general in 
most unmeasured terms. On their departing, 
I inquired of the old man whether he, who 
having been an inquisitor, was doubtless 
versed in the annals of the holy office, could 
inform me whether the Inquisition had ever 
taken any active measures for the suppres- 
sion and punishment of the sect of the Gita- 
nos : whereupon he replied, " that he was not 
aware of one case of a Gitano having been 
tried or punished by the Inquisition ;" adding 
these remarkable words: "The Inquisition 
always looked upon them with too much con- 
tempt to give itself the slightest trouble con- 
cerning them ; for as no danger either to the 
state, or the church of Rome, would proceed 
from the Gitanos, it was a matter of perfect 
indifference to the holy office, whether they 
lived without religion or not. The holy office 
has always reserved its anger for people very 
different; the Gitanos having at all times 
been Gente barrata y despreciable." 

Indeed, most of the persecutions which 
have arisen in Spain against Jews, Moors, 
and Protestants, sprang from motives with 
which fanaticism and bigotry, of which it is 
true the Spaniards have their full share, had 
very little connexion. Religion was assumed 
as a mask to conceal the vilest and most de- 
testable motives which ever yet led to the 
commission of crying injustice; the Jews 
were doomed to persecution and destruction 
on two accounts, their great riches, and their 
high superiority over the Spaniards in learn- 
ing and intellect. Avarice has always been 
the dominant passion in Spanish minds, their 
rage for money being only to be compared to 
the wild hunger of wolves for horse-flesh in 
the time of winter; next to avarice, envy of 
superior talent and accomplishment, is the 
prevailing passion. These two detestable 
feelings united, proved the ruin of the Jews 
in Spain, who were, for a long time, an eye- 
sore, both to the clergy and laity, for their 
great riches and learning. Much the same 
causes insured the expulsion of the Moriscos, 
who were abhorred for their superior industry, 
which the Spaniards would not imitate ; whilst 
the Reformation was kept down by the gaunt 
arm of the Inquisition, lest the property of 
the church should pass into other and more 
deserving hands. The fagot piles in the 
squares of Seville and Madrid, which con- 
sumed the bodies of the Hebrew, the Morisco, 
and the Protestant, were lighted by avarice 
and envy, and those same piles would like- 
7 



wise have consumed the Mulatto carcass of 
the Gitano, had he been learned and wealthy 
enough to become obnoxious to the two mas- 
ter passions of the Spaniards. 

Of all the Spanish writers who have written 
concerning the Gitanos, the one who appears 
to have been the most scandalized at the want 
of religion observable amongst them, and their 
contempt for things sacred, was a certain Dr. 
Sancho De Moncada. 

This worthy, whom we have already had 
occasion to mention, was Professor of The- 
ology at the University of Toledo, and shortly 
after the expulsion of the Moriscos had been 
brought about by the intrigues of the monks 
and robbers who thronged the court of Philip 
the Third, he endeavoured to get up a cry 
against the Gitanos similar to that with which 
for the last half century Spain had resounded 
against the unfortunate and oppressed Afri- 
cans, and to effect this, he published a dis- 
course, entitled "The Expulsion of the Gita- 
nos," addressed to Philip the Third, in which 
he conjures that monarch, for the sake of 
morality and every thing sacred, to complete 
the good work he had commenced, and to 
send the Gitanos packing after the Moriscos 

Whether this discourse produced any be- 
nefit to the author, we have no means of as- 
certaining. One thing is certain, that it did 
no harm to the Gitanos, who still continue in 
Spain. 

If he had other expectations, he must have 
understood very little of the genius of his 
countrymen, or of King Philip and his court. 
It would have been easier to get up a crusade 
against the wild cats of the sierra, than against 
the Gitanos, as the former have skins to re- 
ward those who slay them. His discourse, 
however, is well worthy of perusal, as it ex- 
hibits some learning, and comprises many 
curious details respecting the Gitanos, their 
habits, and their practices. As it is not very 
lengthy, we here subjoin it, hoping that the 
reader will excuse its many absurdities, for 
the sake of its many valuable facts. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE EXPULSION OF THE GITANOS ; A DIS- 
COURSE ADDRESSED BY DOCTOR SANCHO 
DE MONCADA TO PHILIP THE THIRD. 

"SIRE, 

"The people of God were always afflicted 
by the Egyptians, but the Supreme King 
delivered them from their hands by means of 
many miracles, which are related in the Holy 
Scriptures; and now, without having recourse 
to so many, but only by means of the miracu- 
lous talent which your Majesty possesses for 
expelling such reprobates, he will, doubtless, 
free this kingdom from them, which is what 
is supplicated in this discourse, and it be- 
hooves us, in the first place, to consider 
E2 



46 



THE ZINC4LI. 



" WHO ARE THE GITANOS ] 

" Writers generally agree that the first 
time the Gitanos were seen in Europe was 
the year 1417, which was in the time of Pope 
Martinus the Fifth and King Don John the 
Second ; others say that Tamerlane had them 
in his camp in 1401, and that their captain 
was Cingo, from whence it is said that, they 
call themselves Cingary. But the opinions 
concerning their origin are infinite. 

" The first is that they are foreigners, 
though authors differ much with respect to the 
country from whence they came. The ma- 
jority say that they are from Africa, and that 
they came with the Moors when Spain was 
lost; others that they are Tartars, Persians, 
Cilicians, Nubians, from Lower Egypt, from 
Syria, or from other parts of Asia and Africa, 
and others consider them to be descendants 
of Chus, son of Cain; others say that they 
are of European origin, Bohemians, Ger- 
mans, or outcasts from other nations of this 
quarter of the world. 

" The second and sure opinion is, that those 
who prowl about Spain are not Egyptians but 
swarms of wasps and atheistical wretches, 
without any kind of law or religion, Spaniards, 
who have introduced this Gypsy life or sect, 
and who admit into it every day all the idle 
and broken people of Spain. There are some 
foreigners who would make Spain the origin 
and fountain of all the Gypsies of Europe, as 
they say that they proceeded from a river in 
Spain called Cija, of which Lucan makes 
mention; an opinion, however, not much 
adopted amongst the learned. In the opinion 
of respectable authors, they are called Cin- 
gary or Cinli, because they in every respect 
resemble the bird cinclo, which we call in 
Spanish Motacilla, or aguzanieve, (wag-tail,) 
which is a vagrant bird and builds no nest,* 
but broods in those of other birds, a bird rest- 
less and poor of plumage, as Elian writes. 

" THE GITANOS ARE VERY HURTFUL TO SPAIN. 

"There is not a nation which does not consi- 
der them as a most pernicious rabble; even the 
Turks and Moors abominate them, amongst 
whom this sect is found under the names of 
Torlaquis,f Hugiemalars, and Dervislars, of 
whom some historians make mention, and all 
agree that they are most evil people, and 
highly detrimental to the country where they 
are found. 

" In the first place, because in all parts they 
are considered as enemies of the states where 
they wander, and as spies and traitors to the 
crown ; which was proven by the emperors 
Maximilian and Albert, who declared them 
to be such in public edicts; a fact easy to be 
believed, when we consider that they enter 
with ease into the enemies' country, and know 
the languages of all nations. 

* This statement is incorrect. 

f The Torlnquis. (idle vagabonds,) TIadpies, (saints,) 
and Dervishes, i mendicant friars,) of the East, are Gyp- 
sies neither by origin nor habits, but are in general peo 
pie who support themselves in idleness bv practising 
upon the credulity and superstition of the Moslems. 



"Secondly, because they are idle vagabond 
people, who are in no respect useful to the 
kingdom ; without commerce, occupation, or 
trade of any description ; and if they have 
any it is making pick-locks and pot-hooks for 
appearance sake, being wasps, who only live 
by sucking and impoverishing the country, 
sustaining themselves by the sweat of the 
miserable labourers, as a German poet has 
said of them: 

' duos aliena juvant, propriis habitare molestum, 
Fastidit patrium non nisi nosse solum.' 

They are much more useless than the Mo- 
riscos, as these last were of some service to 
the state and the royal revenues, but the Gi- 
tanos are neither labourers, gardeners, me- 
chanics, nor merchants, and only serve, like 
the wolves, to plunder and to flee. 

" Thirdly, because the Gitanas are public 
harlots, common, as it is said, to all the Gi- 
tanos, and with dances, demeanour, and filthy 
songs, are the cause of continual detriment 
to the souls of the vassals of your majesty, it 
being notorious what infinite harm they have 
caused in many honourable houses, the mar- 
ried women whom they have separated from 
their husbands, and the maidens whom they 
have perverted; and finally, in the best of 
these Gitanas any one may recognise all the 
signs of a harlot given by the wise king, they 
are gadders about, whisperers, always unquiet 
in places and corners. 

" Fourthly, because in all parts they are ac- 
counted famous thieves, about which authors 
write wonderful things; we ourselves have 
continual experience of this fact in Spain, 
where there is scarcely a corner where they 
have not committed some heavy offence. 

"Father Martin Del Rio says they were 
notorious when he was in Leon in the year 
1584; as they even attempted to sack the 
town of Logrofio in the time of the pest, as 
Don Francisco De Cordoba writes in his Di- 
dascalia. Enormous cases of their excesses 
we see in infinite processes in all the tri- 
bunals, and particularly in that of the Holy 
Brotherhood; their wickedness ascending to 
such a pitch, that they steal children, and 
carry them for sale to Barbary ; the reason 
why the Moors call them, in Arabic, Raso 
cherany,* which, as Andreas Tebetus writes, 
means master thieves. Although they are 
addicted to every species of robbery, they 
mostly practise horse and cattle stealing, on 
which account they are called in \&\v Abigcos, 
and in Spanish Quatreros, from which prac- 
tice great evils result to the poor labourers. 
When they cannot steal cattle, they endea- 
vour to deceive by means of them, acting as 
terceros in fairs and markets. 

"Fifthly, because they are enchanters, di- 
viners, magicians, chiromancers, who tell the 
future by the lines of the hand, which is what 
they call liuena ventura, and are, in general, 
addicted to all kind of superstition. 

* In the Moorish Arabic, reus al haramin, the literal 
meaning being, M heads or captains of thieves." 



THE EXPULSION OF THE GITANOS. 



47 



"This is the opinion entertained of them 
universally, and which is confirmed every day 
by experience; and some think that they are 
called Cingary, from the great Magian Cineus, 
from whom it is said they learned their sor- 
ceries, and from which result in Spain (es- 
pecially amongst the vulgar) great errors, and 
superstitious credulity, mighty witchcrafts, 
and heavy evils, both spiritual and corporeal. 

"Sixthly, because very devout men con- 
sider them as heretics, and many as Gentile 
idolaters, or atheists, without any religion, al- 
though they exteriorly accommodate them- 
selves to the religion of the country in which 
they wander, being Turks with the Turks, 
heretics with the heretics, and amongst the 
Christians, baptizing now and then a child 
for form's sake. Friar Jayme Bleda produces 
a hundred signs, from which he concludes 
that the Moriscos were not Christians, all 
which are visible in the Gitanos ; very few 
are known to baptize their children ; they are 
not married, but it is believed that they keep 
the women in common ; they do not use dis- 
pensations, nor receive the sacraments ; they 
pay no respect to images, rosaries, bulls, 
neither do they hear mass, nor divine ser- 
vices ; they never enter the churches, nor 
observe fasts, Lent, nor any ecclesiastical 
precept ; which enormities have been attested 
by long experience, as every person says. 

"Finally, they practise every kind of 
wickedness in safety, by discoursing amongst 
themselves in a language with which they 
understand each other without being under- 
stood, which in Spain is called Gerigonza, 
which, as some think, ought to be called Cin- 
gerionza, or language of Cingary. The king 
our lord saw the evil of such a practice in the 
law which he enacted at Madrid, in the year 
1566, in which he forbade the Arabic to the 
Moriscos, as the use of different languages 
amongst the natives of one kingdom opens a 
door to treason, and is a source of heavy in- 
convenience ; and this is exemplified more in 
the case of the Gitanos than of any other 
people. 

"the gitanos ought to be seized 
wherever found. 

"The civil law ordains that vagrants be 
seized wherever they are found, without any 
favour being shown to them; in conformity 
with which, the Gitanos in the Greek empire 
were given as slaves to those who should cap- 
ture them ; as respectable authors write. 
Moreover, the emperor, our lord, has decreed, 
by a law made in Toledo, in the year 1525, 
that the third time they be found wandering 
they shall serve as slaves during their whole 
life to those who capture them. Which can 
be easily justified, inasmuch as there is no 
shepherd who does not place barriers against 
the wolves, and does not endeavour to save 
his flock, and I have already exposed to your 
majesty the damage which the Gitanos per- 
petrate in Spain. 



"THE GITANOS OUGHT TO BE CONDEMNED 
TO DEATH. 

"The reasons are many. The first, for being 
spies, and traitors to the crown ; the second, 
as idlers and vagabonds. 

" It ought always to be considered, that no 
sooner did the race of man begin, afier the 
creation of the world, than the important 
point of civil policy arose of condemning va- 
grants to death ; for Cain was certain that he 
should meet his destruction in wandering as 
a vagabond for the murder of Abel. Ero 
vagus et profugus in terra: omnis igitur 
qui inveuerit me, occidet me. Now, the 
igitur stands here as a natural consequence 
of vagus ero; as it is evident, that whoever 
shall see me must kill me, because he sees 
me a wanderer. And it must always be re- 
membered, that at that time there were no 
people in the world but the parents and bro- 
thers of Cain, as St. Ambrose has remarked. 
Moreover, God, by the mouth of Jeremias, 
menaced his people, that all should devour 
them whilst they went wandering amongst 
the mountains. And it is a doctrine enter- 
tained by theologians, that the mere act of 
wandering, without any thing else, carries 
with it a vehement suspicion of capital crime. 
Nature herself demonstrates it in the curious 
political system of the bees, in whose well 
governed republic the drones are killed in 
April, when they commence working. 

"The third, because they are stealers of 
four-footed beasts, who are condemned to 
death by the laws of Spain, in the wise code 
of the famous King Don Alonso ; which enact- 
ment became a part of the common law. 

" The fourth, for wizards, diviners, and for 
other arts which they practise, which are 
prohibited under pain of death by the divine 
law itself. And Saul is praised for having 
caused this law to be put in execution in the 
beginning of his reign ; and the Holy Scrip- 
ture attributes to the breach of it (namely, 
his consulting the witch) his disastrous death, 
and the transfer of the kingdom to David. 
The emperor Constantine the Great, and 
other emperors who founded the civil law, 
condemned to death those who should prac- 
tise such facinorousness, — as the President 
of Tolosa has written. 

"The last and most urgent cause is, that 
they are heretics, if what is said be truth ; 
and it is the practice of the law in Spain to 
burn such. 

"THE GITANOS ARE EXPELLED FROM THE 
COUNTRY BY THE LAWS OF SPAIN. 

"Firstly, they are comprehended as hale 
beggars in the law of the wise king, Don 
Alonso, by which he expelled all sturdy beg- 
gars, as being idle and useless. 

"Secondly, the law expels public harlots 
from the city; and of this matter I have al- 
ready said something in my second chapter. 

" Thirdly, as people who cause scandal, 
and who, as is visible at the first glance, are 
prejudicial to morals and common decency. 



4S 



THE ZINCALI. 



Now, it is established by the statute law of 
these kingdoms, that such people be expelled 
therefrom ; it is said so in the well pondered 
words of the edict for the expulsion of the 
Moors: — 'And forasmuch as the sense of 
good and Christian government makes it a 
matter of conscience to expel from the king- 
doms the things which cause scandal, injury 
to honest subjects, danger to the state, and 
above all, disloyalty to the Lord our God.' 
Therefore, considering the incorrigibility of 
the Gitanos, the Spanish kings made many 
holy laws in order to deliver their subjects 
from such pernicious people. 

" Fourthly, the Catholic princes, Ferdinand 
and Isabella, by a law which they made in 
Medina del Campo, in the year 1494, and 
which the emperor our lord renewed in To- 
ledo in 1523, and in Madrid in 1528 and 1534, 
and the late king our lord, in 1560, banished 
them perpetually from Spain, and gave them 
as slaves to whomsoever should find them, 
after the expiration of the term specified in 
the edict — laws which are notorious even 
amongst strangers. The words are : — ' We 
declare to be vagabonds, and subject to the 
aforesaid penalty, the Egyptians and foreign 
tinkers, who by laws and statutes of these 
kingdoms are commanded to depart there- 
from ; and the poor sturdy beggars, who, con- 
trary to the order given in the new edict, beg 
for alms and wander about.' 

"THE laws are very just which expel 

THE GITANOS FROM THE STATES. 

" All the doctors who are of opinion that 
the Gitanos may be condemned to death, 
would consider it as an act of mercy in your 
majesty to banish them perpetually from 
Spain, and at the same time as exceedingly 
just. Many learned men not only consider 
that it is just to expel them, but cannot suf- 
ficiently wonder that they are tolerated in 
Christian states, and even consider that such 
toleration is an insult to the kingdoms. 

u Whilst engaged in writing this, 1 have 
ceen a very learned memorial, in which Dr. 
Salazar de Mendoza makes the same suppli- 
cation to your majesty, which is made in this 
discourse, holding it to be the imperious duty 
of every good government. 

''It stands in reason that the prince is 
bound to watch for the Welfare of his subjects, 
and the wrongs which those of your majesty 
receive from the Gitanos I have already ex- 
posed in my second chapter; it being a point 
worthy of great consideration that the wrongs 
caused by the Moriscos moved your royal and 
merciful bosom to drive them out, although 
they were many, and their departure would 
be felt as a loss to the population, the com- 
merce, the royal revenues, and agriculture. 
Now, with respect to the Gitanos, as they are 
fjw, and perfectly useless for every thing, it ap- 
pears more necessary to drive them forth, the 
injuries which they cause being so numerous. 

" Secondly, because the Gitanos, as I have 
already said, are Spaniards; and as others 
profess the sacred orders of religion, even so 



do these fellows profess gypsying, which is 
robbery, and all the other vices enumerated 
in chapter the second. And whereas it is 
just to banish from the kingdom those who 
have committed any heavy delinquency, it is 
still more so to banish those who profess to be 
injurious to all. 

"Thirdly, because all the kings and rulers 
have always endeavoured to eject from their 
kingdoms the idle and useless. And it is 
very remarkable, that the law invariably com- 
mands them to be expelled, and the republics 
of Athens and Corinth were accustomed to 
do so, — casting them forth like dung, even as 
Athenseus writes: — Nos genus hoc morta- 
lium ejicimus ex hac urbe velut purgamina. 
Now the profession of the Gypsy is idleness. 

"Fourthly, because the Gitanos are di- 
viners, enchanters, and mischievous wretches, 
and the law commands us to expel such from 
the state. 

11 In the fifth place, because your majesty, 
in the cortes at present assembled, has obliged 
your royal conscience to fulfil all the articles 
voted for the public service, and the forty- 
ninth says : — ' One of the things at present 
most necessary to be done in these kingdoms, 
is to afford a remedy for the robberies, plun- 
dering and murders committed by the Gitanos, 
who go wandering about the country, stealing 
the cattle of the poor, and committing a thou- 
sand outrages, living without any fear of God, 
and being Christians only in name. It is 
therefore deemed expedient, that your ma- 
jesty command them to quit these kingdoms 
within six months, to be reckoned from the 
day of the ratification of these presents, and 
that they do not return to the same under pain 
of death.' 

11 Against this, two things may possibly be 
urged : 

"The first, that the laws of Spain give 
unto the Gitanos the alternative of residing 
in large towns, which, it appears, would be 
better than expelling them. But experience, 
recognised by grave and respectable men, 
has shown that it is not well to harbour these 
people ; for their houses are dens of thieves, 
from whence they prowl abroad to rob the 
land. 

"The second, that it appears a pity to 
banish the women and children. But to this 
can be opposed that holy act of your majesty 
which expelled the Moriscos, and the children 
of the Moriscos, for the reason given in the 
royal edict. Whenever any detestable crime 
is committed by any university, it is well to 
punish all. And the most detestable crimes 
of all are those which the Gitanos commit, 
since it is notorious that they subsist on what 
they steal ; and as to the children, there is 
no law which obliges us to bring up wolf- 
whelps, to cause hereafter certain damage to 
the tiock. 

" IT HAS EVER BEEN THE PRACTICE OF 
PRINCES TO EXPEL THE GITANOS. 

"Every one who considers the manner of 
your majesty's government as the truly Chris J 



LAWS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GITANOS. 



49 



tian pattern, must entertain fervent hope that 
the advice proffered in this discourse will be 
attended to; more especially on reflecting 
that not only the good, but even the most 
barbarous kings have acted upon it in their 
respective dominions. 

" Pharaoh was bad enough, nevertheless he 
judged that the children of Israel were dan- 
gerous to the state, because they appeared to 
him to be living without any certain occupa- 
tion ; and for this very reason the Chaldeans 
cast them out of Babylon. Amasis, King of 
Egypt, drove all the vagrants from his king- 
dom, forbidding them to return under pain of 
death. The Soldan of Egypt expelled the 
Torlaquis. The Moors did the same, and 
Bajazet cast them out of all the Ottoman em- 
pire, according to Leo Clavius. 

44 In the second place, the Christian princes 
have deemed it an important measure of state. 

"The emperor our lord, in the German 
Diets of the year 1548, expelled the Gitanos 
from all his empire, and these were the words 
of the decree: — 'Zigeuner quos compertum 
est proditores esse, et exploratores hostium 
nusquam in imperio locum inveniunto. In 
deprehensos vis et injuria sine fraude esto. 
Fides publica Zigeuners ne dator, nee data 
servator.' 

" The King of France, Francis, expelled 
them from thence; and the Duke of Terranova, 
when Governor of Milan for our lord the king, 
obliged them to depart from that territory 
under pain of death. 

" Thirdly, there is one grand reason which 
ought to be conclusive in moving him who so 
much values himself in being a faithful son of 
the church, — I mean the example which Pope 
Pius the Fifth gave to all the princes ; for he 
drove the Gitanos from all his domains, and 
in the year 1568, he expelled the Jews, as- 
signing as reasons for their expulsion those 
which are more closely applicable to the Gi- 
tanos; — namely, that they sucked the vitals 
of the state, without being of any utility 
whatever; that they were thieves themselves, 
and harbourers of others ; that they were 
wizards, diviners, and wretches, who induced 
people to believe that they knew the future, 
which is what the Gitanos at present do by 
telling fortunes. 

" Your majesty has already freed us from 
greater and more dangerous enemies ; finish, 
therefore, the enterprise begun, whence will 
result universal joy and security, and by which 
your majesty will earn immortal honour. 
Amen. 

" O Regum summe, horum plura ne temnas 
(absit) ne forte tempsisse Hispania; periculo- 
suni existat." 



CHAPTER XII. 

VARIOUS LAWS ISSUED AGAINST THE SPANISH 
GYPSIES, FROM THE TIME OF FERDINAND 
AND ISABELLA, TO THE LATTER PART OF 



THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, EMBRACING 
A PERIOD OF NEARLY THREE HUNDRED 
YEARS. 

Perhaps there is no country in which more 
laws have been framed, having in view the 
extinction and suppression of the Gypsy name, 
race, and manner of life, than Spain. Every 
monarch, during a period of three hundred 
years, appears at his accession to the throne 
to have considered that one of his first and 
most imperative duties consisted in suppress- 
ing or checking the robberies, frauds, and 
other enormities of the Gitanos, with which 
the whole country seems to have resounded 
since the time of their first appearance. 

They have, by royal edicts, been repeatedly 
banished from Spain, under terrible penalties, 
unless they renounced their inveterate habits ; 
and for the purpose of eventually confounding 
them with the residue of the population, they 
have been forbidden, even when stationary, 
to reside together, every family being en- 
joined to live apart, and neither to seek, nor 
to hold communication with others of the 
race. 

We shall say nothing at present, as to the 
wisdom which dictated these provisions, nor 
whether others might not have been devised, 
better calculated to produce the end desired. 
Certain it is, that the laws were never, or 
very imperfectly, put in force, and for reasons 
with which their expediency or equity (which 
no one at the time impugned) had no con- 
nexion whatever. 

It is true, that in a country like Spain, 
abounding in wildernesses and almost inac- 
cessible mountains, the task of hunting down 
and exterminating, or banishing the roving 
bands, would have been found one of no slight 
difficulty, even if such had ever been at- 
tempted; but it must be remembered, that 
from an early period colonies of Gitanos have 
existed in the principal towns of Spain, 
where the men have plied the trades of joc- 
keys and blacksmiths, and the women sub- 
sisted by divination, and all kinds of fraud. 
These colonies were, of course, always within 
the reach of the hand of justice, yet it does 
not appear that they were more interfered 
with than the roving and independent bands, 
and that any serious attempts were made to 
break them up, though notorious as nurseries 
and refuges of crime. 

It is a lamentable fact, that pure and uncor- 
rupt justice has never existed in Spain, as far 
at least as record will allow us to judge ; not 
that the principles of justice have been lest 
understood than in other countries, but be- 
cause the entire system of justiciary adminis- 
tration is shamelessly profligate and vile. 

Spanish justice has invariably been a 
mockery, a thing to be bought and sold, ter- 
rible only to the feeble and innocent, and an 
instrument of cruelty and avarice. 

The tremendous satires of Le Sage upon 
Spanish corregidors and alguazils, are true, 
even at the present day, and the most noto- 
jrious offenders can generally escape, if able 



50 



THE ZINCALI. 



to administer sufficient bribes to the minis- 
ters* of what is misnamed justice. 

The reader, whilst perusing the following 
extracts from the laws framed against the 
Gitanos, will be filled with wonder that the 
Gypsy sect still exists in Spain contrary to 
the declared will of the sovereign and the 
nation, so often repeated during a period of 
three hundred years ; yet such is the fact, and 
it can only be accounted for on the ground of 
corruption. 

It was notorious that the Gitanos had pow- 
erful friends and favourers in every district, 
who sanctioned and encouraged them in their 
Gypsy practices. These their fautors were 
of all ranks and grades, from the corregidor 
of noble blood, to the low and obscure escri- 
bano ; and from the viceroy of the province, 
to the archer of the Hermandad. 

To the high and noble, they were known 
as Chalanes, and to the plebeian functiona- 
ries, as people who notwithstanding their 
general poverty, could pay for protection. 

A law was even enacted against these pro- 
tectors of the Gitanos, which of course failed, 
as the execution of the law was confided to 
the very delinquents against whom it was 
directed. Thus, the Gitano bought, sold, 
and exchanged animals openly, though he 
subjected himself to the penalty of death by 
so doing, or left his habitation when he 
thought fit, though such an act, by the law 
of the land, was punishable with the galleys. 

In one of their songs they have comme- 
morated the impunity with which they wan- 
dered about : The escnbano, to whom the 
Gitanos of the neighbourhood pay contribu- 
tion, on a strange Gypsy being brought be- 
fore him, instantly orders him to be liberated, 
assigning as a reason, that he is no Gitano, 
but a legitimate Spaniard : 

" I left my house, and walked about, 
They seized me fast, and bound: 
It is a Gypsy thief, they shout, 
The Spaniards here have found. 

" From out the prison me they led, 
Before the scribe they brought: 
It is no Gypsy thief, he said. 
The Spaniards here have caught." 

In a word, nothing was to be gained by in- 
terfering with the Gitanos, by those in whose 
hands the power was vested : but, on the 
contrary, something was to be lost. The 
chief sufferers were the labourers, and they 
had no power to right themselves, though 
their wrongs were universally admitted, and 
laws for their protection continually being 
made, which their enemies contrived to set 
at nought ; as will presently be seen. 

The first law issued against the Gypsies 
appears to have been that of Ferdinand and j 
Isabella, at Medina Del Campo, in 1499. In 
this edict they were commanded, under cer- 
tain penalties, to become stationary in towns 
and villages, and to provide themselves with 

*A favourite saying amongst this class of people, is 
the following: " Es preciso que cada uno coma de su 
tiiitiio." 



masters whom they might serve for their 
maintenance, or in default thereof, to quit 
the kingdom at the end of sixty days. No 
mention is made of the country to which they 
were expected to betake themselves in the 
event of their qyitting Spain. Perhaps, as 
they are called Egyptians, it was concluded 
that they would forthwith return to Egypt ; 
but the framers of the law never seem to have 
considered what means these Egyptians pos- 
sessed of transporting their families and 
themselves across the sea to such a distance, 
or if they betook themselves to other coun- 
tries, what reception a host of people, con- 
fessedly thieves and vagabonds, wore likely 
to meet with, or whether it was fair in the 
two Christian princes to get rid of such a 
nuisance at the expense of their neighbours. 
Such matters were of course left for the Gyp- 
sies themselves to settle. 

In this edict, a class of individuals is men- 
tioned in conjunction with the Gitanos, or 
Gypsies, but distinguished from them by the 
name of foreign tinkers, or Calderos estran- 
geros. By these, we presume, were meant 
the Calabrians, who are still to be seen upon 
the roads of Spain, wandering about from 
town to town, in much the same way as the 
itinerant tinkers of England at the present 
day. A man half a savage, a haggard wo- 
man, who is generally a Spaniard, a wretched 
child, and still more miserable donkey, com- 
pose the group; the gains are of course ex- 
ceedingly scanty, nevertheless this life, seem- 
ingly so wretched, has its charms for these 
outcasts, who live without care and anxiety, 
without a thought beyond the present hour, 
and who sleep as sound in ruined posadas 
and ventas, or in ravines amongst rocks and 
pines, as the proudest grandee in his palace 
at Seville or Madrid. 

Don Carlos and Donna Juanna, at Toledo, 
1539, confirmed the edict of Medina Del 
Campo against the Egyptians, with the addi- 
tion, that if any Egyptian, after the expira- 
tion of the sixty days, should be found wan- 
dering about, he should be sent to the galleys 
for six years, if above the age of twenty and 
under that of fifty, and if under or above 
those years, punished as the preceding law 
provides. 

Philip the Second, at Madrid, 1596, after 
commanding that all the laws and edicts be 
observed, by which the Gypsies are forbidden 
to wander about and commanded to establish 
themselves, ordains, with the view of restrain- 
ing their thievish and cheating practices, that 
none of them be permitted to sell any thino-, 
either within or without fairs or markets, i. 
not provided with a testimony signed by 
the notary public, to prove that they have a 
settled residence, and where it may be ; which 
testimony must also specify and describe the 
horses, cattle, linen, and other things, which 
they carry forth for sale ; otherwise they are 
to be punished as thieves, and what they at- 
tempt to sell considered as stolen property. 

Philip the Third, at Belem, in Portugal, 
1619, commands all the Gyosies of the king- 



LAWS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GITANOS. 



51 



dom to quit the same within the term of six 
months, and never to return, under pain of 
death ; those who should wish to remain, are 
to establish themselves in cities, towns, and 
villages, of one thousand families and up- 
wards, and are not to be allowed the use of the 
dress, name, and language of Gypsies, in 
order that, forasmuch as they are not such 
by nation, this name and manner of life may 
be for ever more confounded and forgotten. 
They are moreover forbidden, under the 
same penalty, to have any thing to do with 
the buying or selling of cattle, whether great 
or small. 

The most curious portion of the above law, 
is the passage in which these people are de- 
clared not to be Gypsies by nation. If they 
are not Gypsies, who are they then? Spa- 
niards ? If so, what right had the King of 
Spain to send the refuse of his subjects 
abroad, to corrupt other lands, over which 
he had no jurisdiction'? 

The Moors were sent back to Africa, under 
gome colour of justice, as they came origi- 
nally from that part of the world, but what 
would have been said to such a measure, if 
the edict which banished them had declared 
that they were not Moors, but Spaniards ? 

The law, moreover, in stating that they 
are not Gypsies by nation, seems to have 
forgotten that in that case it would be impos- 
sible to -distinguish them from other Spaniards, 
so soon as they should have dropped the 
name, language, and dress of Gypsies. How, 
therefore, provided they were like other Spa- 
niards, and did not carry the mark of another 
nation on their countenances, could it be 
known whether or not they obeyed the law, 
which commanded them to live only in popu- 
lous towns or villages, or how could they be 
detected in the buying or selling of cattle, 
which the law forbids them under pain of 
death? 

The attempt to abolish the Gypsy name 
and manner of life, might have been made 
without the assertion of a palpable absurdity. 

Philip the Fourth, May 8, 1633, after re- 
ference to the evil lives and want of religion 
of the Gypsies, and the complaints made 
against them by prelates and others, declares, 
"that the laws hitherto adopted since the 
year 1499, have been inefficient to restrain 
their excesses ; that they are not Gypsies by 
origin or nature, but have adopted this form 
of life;" and then, after forbidding them, ac- 
cording to custom, the dress and language of 
Gypsies, under the usual severe penalties, he 
ordains: 

" 1st. That under the same penalties, the 
aforesaid people shall, within two months, 
leave the quarters (barrios) where they now 
live with the denomination of Gitanos, and 
that they shall separate from each other, and 
mingle with the other inhabitants, and that 
they shall hold no more meetings, neither in 
public nor in secret; that the ministers of 
justice are to observe, with particular dili- 
gence, how they fulfil these commands, and 
whether they hold coflwnunication with each 



other, or marry amongst themselves; and 
how they fulfil the obligations of Christiana 
by assisting at sacred worship in the churches; 
upon which latter point they are to procure 
information with all possible secrecy from the 
curates and clergy of the parishes where the 
Gitanos reside. 

"2dly. And in order to extirpate, in every 
way, the name of Gitanos, we ordain that 
they be not called so, and that no one venture 
to call them so, and that such shall be es- 
teemed a very heavy injury, and shall be pun- 
ished as such, if proved, and that nought per- 
taining to the Gypsies, their name, dress, or 
actions, be represented, either in dances or in 
any other performance, under the penalty of 
two years' banishment, and a mulct of fifty 
thousand maravedis to whomsoever shall of- 
fend for the first time, and double punishment 
for the second." 

The above two articles seem to have in 
view the suppression and breaking up of the 
Gypsy colonies established in the large towns, 
more especially the suburbs ; farther on, men- 
tion is made of the wandering bands. 

"4thly. And forasmuch as we have under- 
stood that numerous Gitanos rove in bands 
through various parts of the kingdom, com- 
mitting robberies in uninhabited places, and 
even invading some small villages, to the 
great terror and danger of the inhabitants, 
we give by this our law a general commission 
to all ministers of justice, whether appertain- 
ing to royal domains, lordships, or abbatial 
territories, that everyone may, in his district, 
proceed to the imprisonment and chastise- 
ment of the delinquents, and may pass beyond 
his own jurisdiction in pursuit of them ; and 
we also command all the ministers of justice 
aforesaid, that on receiving information that 
Gitanos or highwaymen are prowling in their 
districts, they do assemble at an appointed 
day, and with the necessary preparation of 
men and arms they do hunt down, take, and 
deliver them under a good guard to the near- 
est officer holding the royal commission." 

Carlos the Second followed in the foot- 
steps of his predecessors, with respect to the 
Gitanos. By a law of the 20th of November, 
1692, he inhibits the Gitanos from living in 
towns of less than one thousand heads of fa- 
milies (vecinos,) and pursuing any trade or 
employment, save the cultivation of the 
ground ; from going in the dress of Gypsies, 
or speaking the language or gibberish which 
they use ; from living apart in any particular 
quarter of the town ; from visiting fairs with 
cattle, great or small, or even selling or ex- 
changing such at any time, unless with the 
testimonial of the public notary that they 
were bred within their own houses. By this 
law they are also forbidden to have fire-arms 
in their possession. 

So far from being abashed by this law, or 
the preceding one, the Gitanos seem to have 
increased in excesses of every kind. Only 
three years after, (12th June, 1095,) the same 
monarch deemed it necessary to publish a 
' new law for their persecution and chastise- 



52 



THE ZINCALI. 



ment. This law, which is exceedingly se- 
vere, consists of twenty-nine articles. By 
the fourth they are forbidden any other ex- 
ercise or manner of life than that of the 
cultivation of the fields, in which their wives 
and children, if of competent age, are to assist 
them. / 

Of every other office, employment, or com- 
merce, they are declared incapable, and espe- 
cially of being blacksmiths. 

By the fifth, they are forbidden to keep 
horses or mares, either within or without 
their houses, or to make use of them in any 
way whatever, under the penalty of two 
months' imprisonment and the forfeiture of 
such animals; and any one lending them a 
horse or a mare, is to forfeit the same, if it be 
found in their possession. They are declared 
only capable of keeping a mule, or some lesser 
beast, to assist them in their labour, or for 
the use of their families. 

By the twelfth, they are to be punished 
with six years in the galleys, if they leave the 
towns or villages in which they are located, 
and pass to others, or wander in the fields or 
roads ; and they are only to be permitted to 
go out, in order to exercise the pursuit of 
husbandry. In this edict, particular mention 
is made of the favour and protection shown 
to the Gitanos, by people of various descrip- 
tions, by means of which they had been ena- 
bled to follow their manner of life undisturbed, 
and to baffle the severity of the laws : 

" Article 16. — And because we understand 
that the continuance in these kingdoms of 
those who are called Gitanos has depended 
on the favour, protection, and assistance 
which they have experienced from persons of 
different stations, we do ordain, that whoso- 
ever, against whom shall be proved the fact 
of having, since the day of the publication 
hereof, favoured, received, or assisted the 
said Gitanos, in any manner whatever, whe- 
ther within their houses or without, the said 
person, provided he is noble, shall be sub- 
jected to the fine of six thousand ducats, the 
half of which shall be applied to our treasury, 
and the other half to the expenses of the pro- 
secution ; and, if a plebeian, to a punishment 
often years in the galleys. And we declare, 
that in order to proceed to the infliction of 
such fine and punishment, the evidence of 
two respectable witnesses, without stain or 
suspicion, shall be esteemed legitimate and 
conclusive, although they depose to separate 
acts, or three depositions of the Gitanos 
themselves, made upon the rack, although 
they relate to separate and different acts of 
abetting and harbouring." 

The following article is curious, as it bears 
evidence to Gypsy craft and cunning. 

"Article 18. — And whereas it is very diffi- 
cult to prove against the Gitanos the robbe- 
ries and delinquencies which they commit, 
partly because they happen in uninhabited 
places, but more especially on account of the 
malice and cunning with which they execute 
them; we do ordain, in order that they may 
receive the merited chastisement, that to con- 



vict, in these cases, those who are called Gi- 
tanos, the depositions of the persons whom 
they have robbed in uninhabited places shall 
be sufficient, provided there are at least two 
witnesses to one and the same fact, and these 
of good fame and reputation ; and we also 
declare that the corpus delicti may be proved 
in the same manner, in these cases, in order 
that the culprits may be proceeded against, 
and condemned to the corresponding pains 
and punishments." 

The council of Madrid published a schedule, 
18th of August, 1705, from which it appears 
that the villages and roads were so much in- 
fested by the Gitano race, that there was 
neither peace nor safety for labourers and 
travellers; the corregidors and justices are 
therefore exhorted to use their utmost en- 
deavour to apprehend these outlaws, and to 
execute upon them the punishments enjoined 
by the preceding law. The ministers of 
justice are empowered to fire upon them as 
public enemies, wherever they meet them, in 
case of resistance or refusal to deliver up the 
arms they carry about them. 

Philip the Fifth, by schedule, October 1st, 
1726, forbade any complaints which the Gi- 
tanos might have to make against the inferior 
justices being heard in the higher tribunals, 
and, on that account, banished all the Gypsy 
women from Madrid, and, indeed, from all 
towns where royal audiences were held, it 
being the custom of the women to flock up to 
the capital from the small towns and villages, 
under pretence of claiming satisfaction » for 
wrongs inflicted upon their husbands and re- 
lations, and when there to practise the art of 
divination, and to sing obscene songs through 
the streets ; by this law, also, the justices are 
particularly commanded not to permit the 
Gitanos to leave their places of domicile, 
except in cases of very urgent necessity. 

This law was attended with the same suc- 
cess as the others ; the Gitanos left their 
places of domicile whenever they thought 
proper, frequented the various fairs, and 
played off their jockey tricks as usual, or tra- 
versed the country in armed gangs, plundering 
the small villages, and assaulting travellers. 
The same monarch, in October, published 
another law against them, from St. Lorenzo 
of the Escurial. From the words of this 
edict, and the measures resolved upon, the 
reader may fofm some idea of the excesses 
of the Gitanos at this period. They are to 
be hunted down with fire and sword, and even 
the sanctity of the temples is to be invaded 
in their pursuit, and the Gitanos dragged 
from the horns of the altar, should they flee 
thither for refuge. It was impossible, in 
Spain, to carry the severity of persecution 
farther, as the very parricide was in perfect 
safety, could he escape to the church. Here 
follows part of this law. 

" I have resolved that all the lord-lieute- 
nants, intcndants, and corregidors shall pub- 
lish proclamations, and fix edicts, to the ef- 
fect that all the Gitanos who are domiciled 
in the cities and towns of their jurisdiction 



CARLOS TERCERO. 



shall return within the space of fifteen days 
to their places of domicile, under penalty of 
being declared, at the expiration of that term, 
as public banditti, subject to be fired at in the 
event of being found with arms, or without 
them, beyond the limits of their places of 
domicile ; and at the expiration of the term 
aforesaid, the lord-lieutenants, intendants, 
and corregidors are strictly commanded, that 
either they themselves, or suitable persons 
deputed by them, march out with armed 
soldiery, or if there be none at hand, with the 
militias and their officers, accompanied by 
the horse rangers destined for the protection 
of the revenue, for the purpose of scouring 
the whole district within their jurisdiction, 
making use of all possible diligence to ap- 
prehend such Gitanos as are to be found on 
the public roads and other places beyond 
their domiciliary bounds, and to inflict upon 
them the penalty of death, for the mere act 
of being found. 

"And in the event of their taking refuge 
in sacred places, they are empowered to drag 
them forth, and conduct them to the neigh- 
bouring prisons and fortresses, and provided 
the ecclesiastical judges proceed against the 
secular, in order that they be restored to the 
church, they are at liberty to avail themselves. 
of the recourse to force, countenanced by 
laws declaring, even as I now declare, that 
all the Gitanos, who shall leave their allotted 
places of abode, are to be held as incorrigible 
rebels, and enemies of the public peace." 

From this period, until the year 1780, va- 
rious other laws and schedules were directed 
against the Gitanos, which, as they contain 
nothing very new or remarkable, we may be 
well excused from particularizing. In 1783, 
a law was passed by the government, widely 
differing in character from any which had 
hitherto been enacted in connexion with the 
Gitano caste or religion in Spain. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



CARLOS TERCERO. — HIS LAW RESPECTING 
THE GITANOS. 

Carlos Tercero, or Charles the Third, 
ascended the throne of Spain in the year 
1759,' and died in 1788. No Spanish monarch 
has left behind a more favourable impression 
on the minds of the generality of his country- 
men ; indeed, lie is the only one who is re- 
membered at all by all ranks and conditions; — 
perhaps he took the surest means for prevent- 
ing his name being forgotten, by erecting a 
durable monument in every large town, — 
we do not mean a pillar surmounted by a 
statue, or a colossal figure on horseback, 
but some useful and stately public edifice. 
All the magnificent modern buildings which 



attract the eye of the traveller in Spain, 
sprang up during the reign of Carlos Ter- 
cero, — for example, the museum at Madrid, 
the gigantic tobacco fabric at Seville, — half 
fortress, half manufactory, — and the Farol, 
at Corunna. We suspect that these erec- 
tions, which speak to the eye, have gained 
him far greater credit amongst Spaniards, 
than the support which he afforded to liberal 
opinions, which served to fan the flame of 
insurrection in the new world, and eventually 
lost for Spain her transatlantic empire. 

We have said that he left behind him a fa- 
vourable impression amongst the generality 
of his countrymen ; by which we mean the 
great body found in every nation, who neither 
think nor reason, — for there are amongst the 
Spaniards not a few who deny that any of 
his actions entitle him to the gratitude of 
the nation. All his thoughts, say they, were 
directed to hunting — and hunting alone ; and 
all the days of the year he employed himself 
either in hunting or in preparation for the 
sport. In one expedition, in the parks cf 
the Pardo, he spent several millions of reals. 
The noble edifices which adorn Spain, thougli 
built by his orders, are less due to his reign 
than to the anterior one, — to the reign of 
Ferdinand the Sixth, who left immense trea- 
sures, a small portion of which Carlos Ter- 
cero devoted to these purposes, squandering 
away the remainder. It is said that Carlos 
Tercero was no friend to superstition ; yet 
how little did Spain during his time gain in 
religious liberty. The great part of the na- 
tion remained intolerant and theocratic as 
before, the other and smaller section turned 
philosophic, but after the insane manner of 
the French revolutionists, intolerant in its 
incredulity, and believing more in the "En- 
cyclopedie," than in the gospel of the Na- 
zarene. 

We should not have said thus much ot 
Carlos Tercero, whose character has been 
extravagantly praised by the multitude, and 
severely criticised by the discerning few who 
look deeper than the surface of things, if a 
law passed during his reign did not connect 
him intimately with the history of the Gita- 
nos, whose condition to a certain extent it 
has already altered, and over whose future 
destinies there can be no doubt that it will 
exert considerable influence. Whether Car- 
los Tercero had any thing farther to do with 
its enactment than subscribing it with his 
own hand, is a point difficult to determine ; 
the chances are that he had not; there is 
damning evidence* to prove that in many re- 
spects he was a mere Nimrod, and it is not 



+ Anionc the archives of Simancas there are preserved 
various volumes in 4to. of manuscript letters of Carlos 
Tercero; they are his correspondence with certain Nea- 
politan sentry, his friends. These letters (we have read 
many) contain nothing more than accounts transmitted 
hy the kin;; to these individuals, of the wild hoars, Stan, 
and smaller game, which he had slaughtered in h 1 -* 
batidaa y monteruus—gpndtj matters to engage the atten- 
tion of a monarch, whilst" his fleets— and such fleets!— 
were hein» burnt and sunk, and the most splendid em- 
pire in the world was slipping from his hands. 



51 



THE ZINCALL 



probable that such a character would occupy 
his thoughts much with plans for the welfare 
of his people, especially such a class as the 
Gitanos, however willing to build public edi- 
fices, gratifying to his own vanity, with the 
money which a provident predecessor had 
amassed. 

The law in question is dated 19th Sept. 
1783. It is entitled, "Rules for repressing 
and chastising the vagrant mode of life, and 
other excesses, of those who are called Gita- 
nos." It is in many respects widely different 
from all the preceding laws, and on that ac- 
count we have separated it from them, deem- 
ing it worthy of particular notice. It is evi- 
dently the production of a comparatively 
enlightened spirit, for Spain had already be- 
gun to emerge from the dreary night of mo- 
nachism and bigotry, though the light which 
beamed upon her was not that of the gospel, 
but of modern philosophy. The spirit, how- 
ever of the writers of the Encyclopedie is to 
be preferred to that of Torquemada and Mon- 
cada, and however deeply we may lament the 
many grievous omissions in the law of Car- 
los Tercero, (for no provision was made for 
the spiritual instruction of the Gitanos,) we 
prefer it in all points to that of Philip the 
Third, and to the law passed during the reign 
of that unhappy victim of monkish fraud, 
perfidy, and poison, Charles the Second. 

Whoever framed the law of Carlos Tercero 
with respect to the Gitanos, — and it is pos- 
sible that the famous Count de Aranda dic- 
tated its provisions, — had sense enough to 
see that it would be impossible to reclaim and 
bring them within the pale of civilized soci- 
ety, by pursuing the course invariably adopted 
on former occasions, — to see that all the me- 
nacing edicts for the last three hundred years, 
breathing a spirit of blood and persecution, 
had been unable to eradicate Gitanismo from 
Spain; but, on the contrary, had rather served 
to extend it. Whoever framed this law, 
was, moreover, well acquainted with the 
manner of administering justice in Spain, 
and saw the folly of making statutes which 
were never put into effect. Instead, there- 
fore, of relying on corregidors and alguazils 
for the extinction of the Gypsy sect, the 
statute addresses itself more particularly to 
the Gitanos themselves, and endeavours to 
convince them that it would be for their in- 
terest to renounce their much cherished Gi- 
tanismo. Those who framed the former 
laws had invariably done their best to brand 
this race with infamy, and had marked out 
for its members, in the event of abandoning 
their Gypsy habits, a life to which death it- 
self must have been preferable in every re- 
spect. They were not to speak to each other, 
nor to intermarry, though, as they were con- 
sidered of an impure cnste, it was scarcely 
to be expected that the other Spaniards would 
form with them relations of love or amity, 
and they were debarred the exercise of any 
trade or occupation but hard labour, for which 
neither by nature nor habit they were at all 
adapted* The Jaw of Carlos Tercero, on 



the contrary, flung open to them the whote 
career of arts and sciences, and declared 
them capable of following any trade or pro- 
fession to which they might please to addict 
themselves. Here follow extracts from the 
above-mentioned law. 

" Art. 1. I declare that those who go by 
the name of Gitanos are not so by origin or 
nature, nor do they proceed from any infected 
root. 

11 2. I therefore command that neither they 
or any one of them, shall use the language, 
dress, or vagrant kind of life which they have 
followed unto the present time, under the 
penalties here below contained. 

" '3. I forbid all my vassals, of whatever 
state, class, and condition they may be, to 
call or name the above-mentioned people by 
the names of Gitanos, or New Castilians, 
under the same penalties to which those 
are subject who injure others by word or 
writing. 

" 5. It is my will that those who abandon 
the said mode of life, dress, language, or 
jargon, be admitted to whatever offices or 
employments to which they may apply them- 
selves, and likewise to any guilds or com- 
munities, without any obstacle or contradic- 
tion being offered to them, or admitted under 
this pretext within or without courts of law. 

"6; Those who shall oppose and refuse 
the admission of this class of reclaimed peo- 
ple to their trades and guilds, shall be mulcted 
ten ducats for the first time, twenty for the 
second, and a double quantity for the third; 
and during the time they continue in their 
opposition they shall be prohibited from ex- 
ercising the same trade, for a certain period, 
to be determined by the judge, and propor- 
tioned to the opposition which they display. 

" 7. I grant the term of ninety days, to be 
reckoned from the publication of this law 
in the principal town of every district, in 
order that all the vagabonds of this and any 
other class may retire to the towns and vil- 
lages where they may choose to locate them- 
selves, with the exception, for the present, 
of the capital and the royal residences, in 
order that, abandoning the dress, language, 
and behaviour of those who are called Gita- 
nos, they may devote themselves to some 
honest office, trade, or occupation, it being 
a matter of indifference whether the same 
be connected with labour or the arts. 

"8. It will not be sufficient for those who 
have been formerly known to follow this 
manner of life to devote themselves solely 
to the occupation of shearing and clipping 
animals, nor to the traffic of markets and fairs, 
nor still less to the occupation of keepers 
of inns and ventas in uninhabited places, al- 
though they may be inn-keepers within towns, 
whieh employment shall be considered as 
sufficient, provided always there be no well 
founded indications of their being delin- 
quents themselves, or harbourers of such 
people. 

"9. At the expiration of ninety days, the 
justices shall proceed against the disobedient 



CARLOS TERCERO. HIS LAW 



in the following manner : — Those who having 
abandoned the dress, name, language, or jar- 
gon, association, and manners of Gitanos, 
and shall have moreover chosen and estab- 
lished a domicile, but shall not have devoted 
themselves to any office or employment, 
though it be only that of day-labourers, shall 
be considered as vagrants, and be appre- 
hended and punished according to the laws 
in force against such people, without any dis- 
tinction being made between them and the 
other vassals. 

" 10. Those who henceforth shall commit 
any crimes, having abandoned the language, 
dress, and manners of Gitanos, chosen a 
domicile, and applied themselves to any office, 
shall be prosecuted and chastised like others 
guilty of the same crimes, without any dif- 
ference being made between them. 

" 11. But those who shall have abandoned 
the aforesaid dress, language, and behaviour, 
and those who pretending to speak and dress 
like the other vassals, and even to choose a 
domiciliary residence, shall continue to go 
forth, wandering about the roads and unin- 
habited places, although it be with the pre- 
text of visiting markets and fairs, such peo- 
ple shall be pursued and taken by the jus- 



tices, and a list of them formed, with their 
names and appellations, age, description, with 
the places where they say they reside and 
were born. 

"16. I, however, except from punishment 
the children and young people of both sexes 
who are not above sixteen years of age. 

"17. Such, although they may belong to 
a family, shall be separated from their pa- 
rents who wander about and have no em- 
ployment, and shall be destined to learn some- 
thing, or shall be placed out in hospices or 
houses of instruction. 

"20. When the register of the Gitanos 
who have proved disobedient shall have taken 
place, it shall be notified and made known 
to them, that in case of another relapse, the 
punishment of death shall be executed upon 
them without remission, on the examination 
of the register, and proof being adduced that 
they have returned to their former life." 

What effect was produced by this law, and 
whether its results at all corresponded to the 
views of those who enacted it, will be ga- 
thered from the following chapters of this 
work, in which an attempt will be made to 
delineate briefly the oresent condition of tho 
Gypsies in Spain. 



PART II. 



CHAPTER I. 

BADAJOZ. THE GYPSIES. — THE WITHERED 

ARM. GYPSY LAW. TRIMMING & SHEAR- 

ING. METEMPSYCHOSIS. PACO AND AN- 
TONIO. — ANTONIO &> THE MAGYAR. THE 

CHAI. PHARAOH. THE STEEDS OF THE 

EGYPTIANS. 

About twelve in the afternoon of the 6th 
of January, 1836, I crossed the bridge of the 
Guadiana, a boundary river between Portugal 
and Spain, and entered Badajoz, a strong 
town in the latter kingdom, containing about 
eight thousand inhabitants, supposed to have 
been founded by the Romans. I instantly 
returned thanks to God for having preserved 
me in a journey of five days through the wilds 
of the Alemtejo, the province of Portugal 
the most infested by robbers and desperate 
characters, which I had traversed with no 
other human companion than a lad, almost 
an idiot, who was to convey back the mules 
which had brought me from Aldea Gallega. 
I intended to make but a short stay, and as 
a diligence would set out for Madrid the day 
next but one to my arrival, I purposed de- 
parting therein for the capital of Spain. 

I was standing at the door of the inn where 
I had taken up my temporary abode; the 
weather was gloomy, and rain seemed to 
be at hand ; I was thinking on the state of 
the country I had just entered, which was 
involved in bloody anarchy and confusion, 
and where the ministers of a religion falsely 
styled Catholic and Christian were blowing 
the trump of war, instead of preaching the 
love-engendering words of the blessed Gos- 
pel. 

Suddenly two men, wrapped in long cloaks, 
came down the narrow and almost deserted 
street; they were about to pass, and the face 
of the nearest was turned full towards me; I 
knew to whom the countenance which he 
displayed must belong, and I touched him on 
the arm. The man stopped and likewise his 
companion; I said a certain word, to which, 
after an exclamation of surprise, he responded 
in the manner I expected. The men were 
Gitanos or Gypsies, members of that singular 
family or race which has diffused itself over 
the face of the civilized globe, and which, in 
all lands, has preserved more or less its ori- 
ginal customs and its own peculiar language. 

We instantly commenced discoursing in 
the Spanish dialect of this language, with 
which I was tolerably well acquainted. I 
asked my two newly made acquaintances 



whether there were many of their race in 
Badajoz and the vicinity: they informed me 
that there were eight or ten families in the 
town, and that there were others at Merida, 
a town about six leagues distant. I inquired 
by what means they lived, and they replied 
that they and their brethren principally gained 
a livelihood by trafficking in mules and asses, 
but that all those in Badajoz were very poor, 
with the exception of one man, who was ex- 
ceedingly balbalo, or rich, as he was in pos- 
session of many mules and other cattle. They 
removed their cloaks for a moment, and I 
found that their under garments were rags. 

They left me in haste, and went about the 
town informing the rest that a stranger had 
arrived who spoke Rommany as well as them- 
selves, who had the face of a Gitano, and 
seemed to be of the " errate," or blood. In 
less than half an hour the street before the 
inn was filled with the men, women, and 
children of Egypt ; I went out amongst them, 
and my heart sank within me as I surveyed 
them ; more vileness, dirt, and misery I had 
never before seen amongst a similar number 
of human beings ; but the worst of all was 
the evil expression of their countenances, 
which spoke plainly that they were conver- 
sant with every species of crime, and it was 
not long before I found that their counte- 
nances did not belie them. After they had 
asked me an infinity of questions, and felt 
my hands, face, and clothes, they retired to 
their own homes. 

That same night the two men of whom I 
have already particularly spoken came to see 
me; they sat down by the brasero in the 
middle of the apartment, and began to smoke 
small paper cigars. We continued for a 
considerable time in silence surveying each 
other. Of the two Gitanos one was an el- 
derly man, tall and bony, with lean, skinny, 
and whimsical features, though perfectly those 
of a Gypsy; he spoke little, and his expres- 
sions were* generally singular and grotesque; 
his companion, who was the man whom I 
had first noticed in the street, differed from 
him in many respects ; he could be scarcely 
thirty, and his figure, which was about the 
middle height, was of Herculean proportions; 
shaggy black hair, like that of a wild beast, 
covered the greater part of his immense head; 
his face was frightfully seamed with the small 
pox, and his eyes, which glared like those of 
ferrets, peered from beneath bushy eyebrows; 
he wore immense moustaches, and his wide 
mouth was garnished with teeth exceedingly 
large and white; there was one peculiarity 



BADAJOZ THE GVPSIES. 



57 



about him which must not be forgotten, his 
right arm was withered, and hung down from 
his shoulder a thin sapless stick, which con- 
trasted strangely with the huge brawn of the 
left. A figure so perfectly wild and uncouth 
I had scarcely ever before seen. He had 
now flung aside his cloak, and sat before me 
gaunt in his rags and nakedness : in spite of 
his appearance, however, he seemed to be 
much the more sensible of the two, and the 
conversation which ensued was carried on 
chiefly between him and myself: this man, 
whom I shalLcall the first Gypsy, was the 
first to break silence, and he thus addressed 
me, speaking in Spanish, broken with words 
of the Gypsy tongue. 

First Gypsy. — "Aromali (In truth) I little 
thought when I saw the errano standing by 
the door of the posada that I was about to 
meet a brother, one too who, though well 
dressed, was not ashamed to speak to a poor 
Gita.no ; but tell me, I beg, you, brother, from 
whence you come; I have heard that you 
have just arrived from Laloro, but I am sure 
you are no Portuguese; 1 have been there 
myself, but they are very different from you ; 
I rather take you to be one of the Corahai, 
for I have heard say that there is much of 
our blood there. You are a Corahano, are 
you not]" 

Myself. — "I am no Moor, though I have 
been in the country; I was born in an island 
in the West Sea, called England, which I 
suppose you have heard spoken of." 

First Gypsy. — " Yes, yes, I have a right 
to know something of the English; I was 
born in this foros, and remember the day 
when the English hundunares clambered over 
the walls, and took the town from the Ga- 
bine; well do I remember that day, though 1 
was but a child ! the streets ran red with blood 
and wine. — Are there Gitanos then amongst 
the English?" 

Myself. — "There are numbers, and so 
there are amongst most nations of the world." 

Second Gypsy. — "Vaya! And do the 
English Calore ga.in their bread in the same 
way as those of Spain] Do they shear and 
trim] Do they buy and change beasts, and 
(lowering his voice) do they now and then 
chore a gras]" 

Myself. — "They do most of these things; 
the men frequent fairs and markets with 
horses, many of which they steal, and the 
women tell fortunes and perform all kinds of 
tricks, by which they gain more money than 
their husbands." 

First Gypsy. — " They would not be callces 
if they did not; I have known a Gitana gain 
twenty ounces of gold, by means of the hok- 
kano baro, in a few hours, whilst the silly 
Gypsy, her husband, would be toiling with 
his shears for a fortnight, trimming the horses 
of the Busne, and, yet not to be a dollar 
richer at the end of the time." 

Myself — "You seem wretchedly poor; 
are you married]" 

First Gypsy. — "I am, and to the best- 
looking and cLeverest callee w Badajoz. 



nevertheless we have never thriven since the 
day of our marriage, and a curse seems to 
rest upon us both. Perhaps I have only to 
thank myself; 1 was once rich, and had never 
less than six borricos to sell or exchange, but 
the day before my marrriage I sold all I pos- 
sessed, in order to have a grand fiesta; for 
three days we were merry enough ; I enter- 
tained every one who chose to come in, and 
flung away my money by handfuls, so that 
when the affair was over I had not a cuarto 
in the world, and the very people who had 
feasted at my expense refused me a dollar to 
begin again, so we were soon reduced to the 
greatest misery. True it is that 1 now and 
then shear a mule, and my wife tells the bahi 
(fortune) to the servant girls; but these things 
stand us in little stead ; the people are now 
very much on the alert, and my wife, with all 
her knowledge, has been unable to perform 
any grand trick, which would set us up at 
once ; she wished to come to see you, bro- 
ther, this night, but was ashamed, as she shas 
no more clothes than myself. Last summer 
our distress was so great that we crossed the 
frontier into Portugal ; my wife sang and I 
played the guitar, for though I have but one 
arm, and that a left one, I have never known 
the want of the other. At Estremoz I was 
cast into prison as a thief and vagabond, and 
there I might have remained till I starved 
with hunger; my wife, however, soon got me 
out; she went to the lady of the corregidor, 
to whom she told a most wonderful bahi, 
promising treasures and titles, and I wot not 
what ; so I was set at liberty, and returned to 
Spain as quick as I could." 

Myself — "Is it not the custom of the 
Gypsies of Spain to relieve each other in 
distress] — it is the rule in other countries." 

First Gypsy. — El krallis ha nicobado la 
liri de los Gales, — (The king has destroyed 
the law of the Gypsies;) we are no longer 
the people we were once, when we lived 
amongst the sierras and deserts, and kept 
aloof from the Busne ; we have lived amongst 
the Busne till we are become almost like 
them, and we are no longer brothers, ready 
to assist each other at all times and seasons, 
and very frequently the Gitano is the worst 
enemy of his brother." 

Myself — "The Gitanos, then, no longer 
wander about, but have fixed residences in 
the towns and villages]" 

First Gypsy. — "In the summer time n 
few of us assemble together, and live amongst 
the plains and hills, and by doing so we fre- 
quently contrive to pick up a horse or a mule 
for nothing, and sometimes we knock down 
a Busno and strip him, but it is seldom we 
venture so far. We are much looked after 
by the Busne, who hold us in great dread, 
and abhor us. Sometimes, when wandering 
about, we are attacked by the labourers, ami 
then we defend ourselves as well as uv can. 
There is no better weapon in the hands of a. 
Gitano than his "cachas," or shears, wit'i 
which he trims the mules. I once snipped 
off the nose of a Bucno, and op/cneJ tlie 
F2 



5S 



THE ZINCAI.I. 



greatest part of his clteek in an affray at 
which I was present up the country near 
Trujillo." 

Myself. — " Have you travelled much about 
Spain'!" 

First Gypsy. — "Very little; I have never 
been out of this province of Estremadura, ex- 
cept last year, as I told you into Portugal. 
When we wander we do not go far, and it is 
very rare that we are visited by our brethren 
of other parts. I have never been in Anda- 
lusia, but I have heard say that the Gitanos 
are many in Andalusia, and are more wealthy 
than those here, and that they follow better 
the gypsy law." 

Myself. — "What do you mean by the 
gypsy law 7" 

First Gypsy. — " Wherefore do you ask, 
brother? You know what is meant by the 
law of the Cales better even than ourselves." 

Myself. — "I know what it is in England 
and in Hungary, but I can only give a guess 
as to what it is in Spain." 

Both Gypsies. — " What do you consider 
it to be in Spain?" 

Myself. — "Cheating and choring the Busne 
on all occasions, and being true to the errate 
in life and death." 

At these words both the Gitanos sprang si- 
multaneously from their seats, and exclaimed 
with a boisterous shout — " Chachipe." 

This meeting with the Gitanos was the oc- 
casion of my remaining at Badajoz a much 
longer time than I originally intended. I 
wished to become better acquainted with their 
condition and manners, and above all to speak 
to them of Christ and his word ; for I was 
convinced, that should I travel to the end of 
the universe, I should meet with no people 
more in need of a little Christian exhortation, 
and I accordingly continued at Badajoz for 
nearly three weeks. 

During this time I was almost constantly 
amongst thorn, and as I spoke their language, 
and was considered by them as one of them- 
selves, I had better opportunity of arriving at 
a fair conclusion respecting their character 
than any other person could have had, whether 
Spanish or foreigner, without such an ad- 
vantage. I found that their ways and pur- 
suite were in almost every respect similar to 
t!iose of their brethren in other countries. 
By cheating and swindling they gained their 
daily bread; the men principally by the arts 
of the jockey, — by buying, selling, and ex- 
changing animals, at which they are wonder- 
fully expert; and the women by telling for- 
tunes, selling goods smuggled from Portugal, 
hud by dealing in love draughts and diablerie. 
The most innocent occupation which I ob- 
served amongst them was trimming and 
.shearing horses and mules, which in their 
I mguage is called " monrahar," and in Spanish 
"csquilar;" and even whilst exercising this 
art, they not unfrequently have recourse to 
foul play, doing the animal some covert in- 
jury, in hope that the proprietor will dispose 
of it to themselves at an inconsiderable price, 
in which event they soon restore it to health; 



for knowing how to inflict the harm, they 
know likewise how to remove it. 

Religion they have none; they never attend 
mass, nor did I ever hear them employ the 
names of God, Christ, and the Virgin, but in 
execration a,nd blasphemy. From what I could 
learn, it appeared that their fathers had enter- 
tained some belief in metempsychosis ; but 
they themselves laughed at the idea, and were 
of opinion that the soul perished when the 
body ceased to breathe; and the argument 
which they used was rational enough, as far 
as it impugned metempsychosis: — " We have 
been wicked and miserable enough in this 
life," they said ; " why should we live again V 

I translated certain portions of Scripture 
into their dialect, which I frequently read to 
them ; especially the parable of Lazarus and 
the Prodigal Son, and told them that the 
latter had been as wicked as themselves, and 
both had suffered as much or more ; but that 
the sufferings of the former, who always 
looked forward to a blessed resurrection, were 
recompensed by admission, in the life to come, 
to the society of Abraham and the Prophets, 
and that the latter, when he repented of his 
sins, was forgiven, and received into as much 
favour as the just son. 

They listened with admiration ; but, alas ! 
not of the truths, the eternal truths, I was 
telling them, but to find that their broken jar- 
gon could be written and read. The only 
words of assent to the heavenly doctrine 
which t ever obtained, and that rather of the 
negative kind, were the following from the 
mouth of a woman: — "Brother, you tell us 
strange things, though perhaps you do not 
lie; a month since, 1 would sooner have be- 
lieved these tales, than that this day I should 
see one who could write Rommany." 

Two or three days after my arrival, I was 
again visited by the Gypsy of the withered 
arm, who - I found was generally termed Paco, 
which is the diminutive of Francisco ; he was 
accompanied by his wife, a rather good- 
looking young woman with sharp intelligent 
features, and who appeared in every respect 
to be what her husband had represented her 
on the former visit. She was very poorly 
clad, and notwithstanding the extreme sharp- 
ness of the weather, carried no mantle to pro- 
tect herself from its inclemency, — her raven 
black hair depended behind as far down as 
her hips. Another Gypsy came with them, 
but not the old fellow whom I had before seen. 
This was a man about forty-five, dressed in a 
zamarra of sheep skin, with a high-crowned 
Andalusian hat; his complexion was dark as 
pepper, and his eyes were full of sullen fire. 
In his appearance he exhibited a goodly com- 
pound of Gypsy and bandit. 

Paco. — " Laches chibescs te dinele Unde- 
bel; (May God grant you good days, bro- 
ther.) This is my wife, and this is my wife's 
father." 

Myself. — " I am glad to see them. What 
are their names]" 

Paco. — " Maria and Antonio; their other 
name is Lopez." 



THE CHAI. 



59 



Myself. — "Have they no Gypsy names?' , 

Paco. — "They have no other names than 
these." 

Myself. — "Then in this respect the Gi- 
tanos of Spain are unlike those of my coun- 
try. Every family there has two names ; one 
by which they are known to the Busne, and 
another which they use amongst themselves." 

Antonio. — "Give me your hand, brother! 
I should have come to see you before, but I 
have been to Olivenzas in search of a horse. 
What I have heard of you has filled me with 
much desire to know you, and I now see that 
you can tell me many things which I am ig- 
norant of. I am Zincalo by the four sides, 
— I love our blood, and I hate that of the 
Busne. Had I my will J would wash my face 
every day in the blood of the Busne, for the 
Busne are made only to be robbed and to be 
slaughtered ; but I love the Calore, and I love 
to hear of things of the Calore, especially 
from those of foreign lands ; for the Calore of 
foreign lands know more than we of Spain, 
and more resemble our fathers of old." 

Myself. — " Have you ever met before with 
Calore who were not Spaniards?" 

Antonio. — " I will tell you, brother. I served 
as a soldier in the war of the independence 
against the French. War, it is true, is not, 
the proper occupation of a Gilano, but those 
were strange times, and all those who could 
bear arms were compelled to go forth to fight : 
so I went with the English armies, and we 
chased the Gabine unto the frontier of France; 
and it happened once that we joined in des- 
perate battle, and there was a confusion, and 
the two parties became intermingled and 
fought sword to sword and bayonet to bayonet, 
and a French soldier singled me out, and we 
fought for a long time, cutting, goring, and 
cursing each other, till at last we flung down 
our arms and grappled ; long we wrestled, 
body to body, but I found that I was the 
weaker, and I fell. The French soldier's 
knee was on my breast, and his grasp was on 
my throat, and he seized his bayonet, and he 
raised it to thrust me through the jaws ; and 
his cap had fallen off, and I lifted up my eyes 
wildly to his face, and our eyes met, and gave 
a loud shriek, and cried Zincalo, Zincalo ! 
and I felt him shudder, and he relaxed his 
grasp and started up, and he smote his fore- 
head and wept, and then he came to me and 
knelt down by my side, for I was almost dead, 
and he took my hand and called me Brother 
and Zincalo, and he produced his flask and 
poured wine into my mouth and I revived, 
and he raised me up, and led me from the con- 
course, and we sat down on a knoll, and the 
two parties were fighting all around, and he 
said, ' Let the dogs fight, and tear each other's 
throats till they are all destroyed, what mat- 
ters it to the Zincali ; they "are not of our 
blood, and shall that be shed for them V So 
we sat for hours on the knoll and discoursed 
on matters pertaining to our people; and I 
could have listened for years, for he told mo 
secrets which made my ears tingle, and I 
soon found that I knew nothing, though I 



had before considered myself quite Zincalo; 
but as for him he knew the whole cuenta ; the 
Bengui Lango* himself could have told him 
nothing but what he knew. So we sat till 
the sun went down and the battle was over, 
and he proposed that we should both flee to 
his own country and live there with the Zin- 
cali ; but my heart failed me ; so we embraced, 
and he departed to the Gabine, whilst I re- 
turned to our own battalions." 

Myself. — "Do you know from what coun- 
try he came J" 

Antonio. — " He told me that he was a 
Mayoro." 

Myself. — " You mean a Magyar or Hun- 
garian." 

Antonio. — "Just so; and I have repented 
ever since that I did not follow him." 

Myself— " Why so?" 

Antonio. — "I will tell you : the king has 
destroyed the law of the Cales, and has put 
disunion amongst us. There was a time 
when the house of every Zincalo, however 
rich, was open to his brother, though he came 
to him naked ; and it was then the custom to 
boast of the errate.' It is no longer so now : 
those who are rich keep aloof from the rest, 
will not speak in Calo, and will have no deal- 
ings but with the Busne. Is there not a false 
brother in this foros, the only rich man among 
us, the swine, the balichow? he is married 
to a Busnee, and he would fain appear as a 
Busno ! Tell me one thing, has he been to 
see you? The white blood, I know he has 
not ; he was afraid to see you, for he knew 
that by Gypsy law he was bound to take you 
to his house, and feast you whilst you re- 
mained like a prince, like a crallis of the 
Cales, as T believe you are, even though he 
sold the last gras from the stall. Who have 
come to see you, brother? Have they not 
been such as Paco and his wife, wretches 
without a house, or, at best, one filled with 
cold and poverty; so that you have had to stay 
at a mesuna, at a posada of the Busne; and, 
moreover, what have the Cales given you 
since you have been residing here? Nothing, 
I trow, better than this rubbish, which is all 
I can offer you, this Meligrana de los Ben- 
gues." 

Here he produced a pomegranate from the 
pocket of hiszamarra, and flung it on the table 
with such force that the fruit burst, and the 
red grains were scattered on the floor. 

The Gitanos of Estremadura call them- 
selves in general Chai or Chabos, and say that, 
their original country was Chal or Egypt. I 
frequently asked them what reason they could 
assign for calling themselves Egyptians, and 
whether they could remember the names of 
any places in their supposed father land, but 
I soon found that, like their brethren in other 
parts of the world, they were unable to give 
any rational account of themselves, and pre- 
served no recollection of the places where 
their forefathers had wandered: their lan- 
guage, however, to a considerable extent, 

* The lame devil : Atmodffua. 



60 



THE ZINCALI. 



solved the riddle, the bulk of which being 
Hindui, pointed out India as the birth-place 
of their race, whilst the number of Persian, 
Sclavonian, and modern Greek words with 
which it is chequered, spoke plainly as to the 
countries through which these singular peo- 
ple had wandered before they arrived in Spain. 

They said that they believed themselves to 
be Egyptians, because their fathers before 
them'believed so, who must know much bet- 
ter than themselves. They were fond of talk- 
ing of Egypt and its former greatness, though 
it was evident that they knew nothing far- 
ther of the country and its history than what 
they derived from spurious biblical legends 
current amongst the Spaniards; only from 
such materials could they have composed the 
following account of the manner of their ex- 
pulsion from their native land. 

''There was a great king in Egypt, and 
his name was Pharaoh. He had numerous 
armies, with which he made war on all coun- 
tries, and conquered them all. And when he 
had conquered the entire world, he became 
sad and sorrowful ; for as he delighted in war, 
he no longer knew on what to employ him- 
self. At last he bethought him of making 
war on God ; so he sent a defiance to God, 
daring him to descend from the sky with his 
angels, and contend with Pharaoh and his 
armies ; but God said, I will not measure my 
strength with that of a man. But God was 
incensed against Pharaoh, and resolved to 
punish him ; and he opened a hole in the 
side of an enormous mountain, and he raised 
a raging wind, and drove before it Pharaoh 
and his armies to that hole, and the abyss re- 
ceived them, and the mountain closed upon 
them ; but whosoever goes to that mountain 
on the night of St. John, can hear Pharaoh 
and his armies singing and yelling therein. 
And it came to pass, that when Pharaoh and 
his armies had disappeared, all the kings and 
the nations which had become subject to 
Egypt revolted against Egypt, which, having 
lost her king and her armies, was left utterly 
without defence; and they made war against 
her, and prevailed against her, and took her 
people and drove them forth, dispersing them 
over all the world." 

So that now, say the Chai, " Our horses 
drink the waters of the Guadiana." — (Apily- 
ela gras Chai la panee Lucalee.) 

,( tiie steeds of the Egyptians drink the 
waters of the guadiana. 

" The. repion bf Chai Was our dear native soil, 
When; in fulness of pleasure we lived without toil; 
Till dispers'd through all lands, 'twas our fortune to 

be— 
Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee. 

" Once kings came from far to kneel down at our gate, 
And princes re.joic'd on our meanest to wait; 

But now whoso mean but would seorn our degree — 
Our diced*, Guadiana, must now drink of thee. 

* For the Undebel saw, from his throne In the cloud, 
That our deeds they were foolish, our hearts they were 

proud; 
And in anger he bade US his presence to lice — 
Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of lluee. 



u Our horses should drink of no river but one; 
It sparkles through Chai, 'neath the smile of the sun; 
But they taste of all streams save that only, and see — 
Apilyela gras Chai la panee Lucalee." 



CHAPTER II. 



MADRID. GYPSY WOMEN.— GRANADA. — GYP- 
SY SMITHS. — PEPE CONDE. SEVILLE. 

TRIANA. — CORDOVA. — HORSES. — THE ES- 
QUILADOR. — CHARACTERISTIC EPISTLE. — 
CATALONIA, ETC. 

In Madrid the Gitanos chiefly reside in the 
neighbourhood of the " mercado," or the place 
where horses and other animals are sold, — in 
two narrow and dirty lanes, called the Calle 
de la Comadre and the Callejon de Lavapies. 
It is said, that at the beginning of last centu- 
ry, Madrid abounded with these people, who, 
by their lawless behaviour and dissolute lives, 
gave occasion to great scandal; if such were 
the case, their numbers must have considera- 
bly diminished since that period, as it would 
be difficult at any time to collect fifty through- 
out Madrid. These Gitanos seem, for the 
most part, to be either Valencians, or of Va- 
lencian origin, as they in general either speak 
or understand the dialect of that province; 
and whilst speaking their own peculiar jar- 
gon, the Rommany, are in the habit of making 
use of many Valencian words and terms. 

The manner of life of the Gitanos of Mad- 
rid differs in no material respect from that of 
their brethren in other places. The men, 
every market day, are to be seen on the skirts 
of the mercado, generally with some misera- 
ble animal; for example, a foundered mule, 
or galled borrico, by means of which they sel- 
dom fail to gain a dollar or two, either by sale 
or exchange. It must not, however, be sup- 
posed that they content themselves with such 
paltry earnings. Provided they have any va- 
luable animal, which is not unfrcquentiy the 
case, they invariably keep such at home snug 
in the stall, conducting thither the chapman, 
should they find any, and concluding the bar- 
gain with the greatest secrecy. Their rea- 
sons for this conduct are manifold. In the 
first place, a deadly feud exists between the 
Gitanos and the chalanes, or jockeys of Spa- 
nish blood, by whom the former are not un- 
frequently ejected from the fair by force of 
palos or cudgels, verifying the old adage, 
that two of a trade are sure to quarrel. The 
chalanes in this violence are to a certain ex- 
tent countenanced by law; for though by the 
edict of Carlos the Third, the Gitanos were 
in other respects placed upon an equality 
with the rest of the Spaniards, they were still 
forbidden to obtain their livelihood by the 
traffick of markets and lairs. 

Another reason for the secrecy that they 
practise in these cases, is the fact, that ani- 
mals of this description are generally ob- 
tained by dishonest means, and would pro- 



PEPE CONDE. 



61 



fcably be recognised were they publicly ex- 
posed for sale. The stealing-, concealing, 
and receiving animals when stolen, is an in- 
veterate Gypsy habit, and is perhaps the last 
from which the Gitano will be reclaimed, or 
will only cease when the race has become ex- 
tinct. In the prisons of Madrid, either in 
that of the Saladero, or De la Corte, there 
are never less than a dozen Gitanos immured 
for stolen horses, or mules being found in 
their possession, which themselves or their 
connexions have spirited away from the 
neighbouring villages, or sometimes from a 
considerable distance. I say spirited away, 
for so well do they take their measures, and 
watch their opportunity, that they are sel- 
dom or never taken in the fact. 

The Madrilenian Gypsy women are inde- 
fatigable in the pursuit of prey, prowling 
about the town and the suburbs from morn- 
ing till night, entering houses of all descrip- 
tions, from the highest to the lowest; telling 
fortunes, or attempting to play off various 
kinds of Gypsy tricks, from which they de- 
rive much greater profit, and of which we 
shall presently have occasion to make parti- 
cular mention. 

We have already stated that the Gypsy 
women in general are far more remarkable 
beings than the men, whose pursuits, those 
of the jockey and the horse-stealer, are low 
and mean, possessing nothing capable of 
strongly captivating the imagination, — not 
so what regards the females; and those of 
Madrid yield to none in Spain in those quali- 
ties on which a good Galli prizes herself. 
The boldness, acuteness, and subtlety of 
some of these women are truly wonderful, 
and their self-possession is so great, that they 
pass unharmed through dangers, which would 
be fatal to others educated in a school less 
stern and hard than Gypsy life in Spain. 

From Madrid let us proceed to Andalusia, 
casting a cursory glance on the Gitanos of 
that country. 1 found them very numerous 
at Granada, which in the Gitano language is 
termed Meligrana. Their general condition 
in this place is truly miserable, far exceeding 
in wretchedness the state of the tribes of Es° 
tremadura. It is right to state that Granada 
itself is the poorest city in Spain ; the great- 
est part of the population, which exceeds 
sixty thousand, passing their days in beggary 
and nakedness, and the Gitanos share in the 
general distress. 

Many of them reside in caves scooped in 
the sides of the ravines which lead to the 
higher regions of the Alpujarras, on a skirt 
of which stands Granada. A common occu- 
pation of the Gitanos of Granada is working 
in iron, and it is not unfrequent to find these 
caves tenanted by Gypsy smiths and their fa- 
milies, who ply the hammer and forge in the 
bowels of the earth. To one standing at the 
mouth of the cave, especially at night, they 
afford a picturesque spectacle. Gathered 
round the forge, their bronzed and naked bo- 
dies, illuminated by the flame, appear like I 
figures of demons ; while the cave, with its | 
9 



flinty sides and uneven roof, blackened by the 
charcoal vapours which hover about it in fes- 
toons, seems to offer no inadequate repre- 
sentation of fabled purgatory. Working in 
iron was an occupation strictly forbidden to 
the Gitanos by the ancient laws, on what ac- 
count does not exactly appear; though, per- 
haps, the trade of the smith was considered 
as too much akin to that of the chalan to be 
permitted to them. The Gypsy smith of Gra- 
nada is still a chalan, even as his brother in 
England is a jockey and tinker alternately. 

Whilst speaking of the Gitanos of Grana- 
da, we cannot pass by in silence a tragedy 
which occurred in this town amongst them, 
some fifteen years ago, and the details of 
which are known to every Gitano in Spain, 
from Catalonia to Estremadura. We allude 
to the murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde. 
Both these individuals were Gitanos; the 
latter was a celebrated contrabandista, of 
whom many remarkable tales are told. On 
one occasion, having committed some enor- 
mous crime, he fled over to Barbary and 
turned Moor, and was employed by the 
Moorish Emperor in his wars, in company 
with the other renegade Spaniards, whose 
grand depot or presidio is the town of Agu- 
rey in the kingdom of Fez. After the lapse 
of some years, when his crime was nearly 
forgotten, he returned to Granada, where he 
followed his old occupations of contraban- 
dista and chalan. Pindamonas was a Gitano 
of considerable wealth, and was considered 
as the most respectable of the race at Grana- 
da, amongst whom he possessed considera- 
ble influence. Between this man and Pepe 
Conde there existed a jealousy, especially on 
the part of the latter, who, being a man of 
proud untameable spirit, could not well brook 
a superior amongst his own people. It chanced 
one day that Pindamonas and other Gitanos, 
amongst whom was Pepe Conde, were in a 
coffee-house. After they had all partaken of 
some refreshment they called for the reckon- 
ing, the amount of which Pindamonas insist- 
ed on discharging. It will be necessary here 
to observe, that on such occasions in Spain, 
it is considered as a species of privilege to 
be allowed to pay, which is an honour gene- 
rally claimed by the principal man of the 
party. Pepe Conde did not fail to take um- 
brage at the attempt of Pindamonas, which 
he considered as an undue assumption of su- 
periority, and put in his own claim ; but Pin- 
damonas insisted, and at last flung down the 
money on the table, whereupon Pepe Conde 
instantly unclasped one of those terrible 
Manchegan knives which are generally car- 
ried by the contrabandistas, and with a fright- 
ful gash opened the abdomen of Pindamonas, 
who presently expired. 

After this exploit, Pepe Conde fled, and 
was not seen for some time. The cave, how- 
ever, in which he had been in the habit of re- 
siding was watched, as a belief was enter- 
tained that sooner or later he would return 
to it, in the hope of being able to remove 
some of the property contained in it. This 



62 



THE ZINCALI. 



belief was well founded. Early one morning 
he was observed to enter it, and a band of 
soldiers was instantly despatched to seize 
him. This circumstance is alluded to in a 
Gypsy stanza : — 

" Fly, Pepe Conde, seek the hill; 
To flee 's tliy only chance: 
With bayonets fixed, thy blood to spill, 
See soldiers four advance." 

And before the soldiers could arrive at the 
cave, Pepe Conde had discovered their ap- 
proach and fled, endeavouring to make his 
escape amongst the rocks and berrancos of 
the Alpujarras. The soldiers instantly pur- 
sued, and the chase continued a considerable 
time. The fugitive was repeatedly summoned 
to surrender himself, but refusing, the soldiers 
at last fired, and four balls entered the heart 
of the Gypsy contrabandista and murderer. 

Once at Madrid I received a letter from 
the sister's son of Pindamonas, dated from 
the prison of the Saladero. In this letter 
the writer, who it appears was in durance 
for stealing a pair of mules, craved my cha- 
ritable assistance and advice, and possibly in 
the hope of securing my favour, forwarded 
some uncouth lines commemorative of the 
death of his relation, and commencing thus: — 

" The death of Pindamonas filled all the world with pain: 
At the coffee-house's portal, by Pepe he was slain." 

The faubourg of Triana, in Seville, has, 
from time immemorial, been noted as a fa- 
vourite residence of the Gitanos, and here, 
at the present day, they are to be found in 
greater numbers than in any other town in 
Spain. This faubourg is indeed chiefly in- 
habited by desperate characters, as, besides 
the Gitanos, the principal part of the robber- 
population of Seville is here congregated ; 
perhaps there is no part even of Naples where 
crime so much abounds, and the law is so 
little respected as at Triana, the character of 
whose inmates was so graphically delineated 
two centuries and a half back by Cervantes, 
in one of the most amusing of his tales.* 

In the vilest lanes of this suburb, amidst 
dilapidated walls and ruined convents, exists 
the grand colony of Spanish Gitanos. Here 
they may be seen wielding the hammer ; here 
they may be seen trimming the fetlocks of j 
horses, or shearing the backs of mules and 
borricos with their cachas; and from hence | 
they emerge to ply the same trade in the 
town, or to officiate as terceros, or to buy, 
sell, or exchange animals in the mercado, 
and the women to tell the bahi through the 
streets, even as in other parts of Spain, ge- 
nerally attended by one or two tawny bant- 
lings in their arms or by their sides ; whilst 
others, with baskets and chafing-pans, pro- 
ceed to the delightful banks of the Len Baro,f 
by the Golden Tower, where, squatting on 
the ground and kindling their charcoal, they 
roast the chestnuts which, when well pre- 
pared, are the favourite bonne bouche of the 
Sevillians ; whilst not a few, in league with 

* Rinconeto and Cortadillo. 

| The great river, or Guadalquivir. 



the contrabandistas, go from door to door 
offering for sale prohibited goods brought 
from the English at Gibraltar. Such is Gi- 
tano life at Seville, such it is in the capital 
of Andalusia. 

It is the common belief of the Gitanos of 
other provinces that in Andalusia the lan- 
guage, customs, habits, and practices pecu- 
liar to their race are best preserved. This 
opinion, which probably originated from the 
fact of their being found in greater numbers 
in this province than in any other, may hold 
good in some instances, but certainly not in 
all. In various parts of Spain, I have found 
the Gitanos retaining their primitive language 
and customs better than in Seville, where 
they most abound ; indeed it is not plain that 
their number has operated at all favourably 
in this respect. At Cordova, a town at the 
distance of twenty leagues from Seville, which 
scarcely contains a dozen Gitano families, I 
found them living in much more brotherly 
amity, and cherishing in a greater degree 
the observances of their forefathers. 

I shall long remember these Cordovese 
Gitanos, by whom I was very well received, 
but always on the supposition that I was one 
of their own race. They said that they never 
admitted strangers to their houses save at 
their marriage festivals, when they flung their 
doors open to all, and save occasionally peo- 
ple of influence and distinction, who wished 
to hear their songs and converse with their 
women ; but they assured me, at the same 
time, that these they invariably deceived, and 
merely made use of as instruments to serve 
their own purposes. As for myself, I was 
admitted without scruple to their private 
meetings, and was made a participator of 
their most secret thoughts. During our in- 
tercourse, some remarkable scenes occurred : 
one night more than twenty of us, men and 
women, were assembled in a long low room 
on the ground floor, in a dark alley or court 
in the old gloomy town of Cordova. After 
the Gitanos had discussed several jockey 
plans, and settled some private bargains 
amongst themselves, we all gathered round 
a huge brasero of flaming charcoal, and be- 
gan conversing sobre las cosas de Egypto, 
when I proposed that, as we had no better 
means of amusing ourselves, we should en- 
deavour to turn into the Calo language some 
piece of devotion, that we might see whether 
this language, the gradual decay of which I 
had frequently heard them lament, was capa- 
ble of expressing any other matters than 
those which related to horses, mules, and 
Gypsy traffic. It was in this cautious man- 
ner that I first endeavoured to divert the at- 
tention of these singular people to matters 
of eternal importance. My suggestion was 
received with acclamations, and we forthwith 
proceeded to the translation of the Apostle'i 
creed. I first recited in Spanish, in the usual 
manner and without pausing, this noble con- 
fession, and then repeated it again, sentence 
by sentence, the Gitanos translating as I pro- 
ceeded. They exhibited the greatest eager- 



CORDOVA. 



G3 



ness and interest in their unwonted occupa- 
tion, and frequently broke into loud disputes 
as to the best rendering — many being offered 
at the same time. In the meanwhile, I wrote 
down from their dictation, and at the con-, 
elusion I read aloud the translation, the result 
of the united wisdom of the assembly, where- 
upon they all raised a shout of exultation, 
and appeared not a little proud of the corn- 
position-. 

Cordova has always been celebrated for its 
steeds ; the best breeding horses in the whole 
of Spain being found in the stalls of the large 
landed proprietors in the neighbourhood. 
These animals are of unequalled beauty in 
their way; their colour is in general a glossy 
black, their manes bushy and silky and of a 
great length, whilst their tails trail upon the 
ground, and seem a forest of waving hair; 
they are invariably broad-chested and round 
in their quarters, and their embonpoint, which 
is remarkable, is considered their chief or- 
nament. 

The Spaniards consider these horses as 
the genuine descendants of the steeds of the 
Moorish conquerors of Spain, — that terrific 
cavalry, who dyed the waters of the Guada- 
lete with the blood of the Goths. This, 
however, is a gross error; no two animals 
can be more unlike than the Moorish and 
Andalusian horse.; the first being far from 
handsome, and the mane and tail scanty and 
of a wiry quality, instead of exhibiting the 
rich, glorious redundancy of the Andalusian. 
The Moorish horse, again, (we speak of those 
of high caste,) is a furious, savage creature, 
whom it is frequently necessary to chain, — 
indefatigable in the course, and never resting 
but on its legs ; whilst the Andalusian is 
gentle and docile, and will follow its keeper 
like a dog, and though of great swiftness for 
a short distance, is soon blown and fatigued, 
and when seeking repose, will cast itself on 
its side like a human being. These beautiful 
-animals, which are a mixture of many breeds, 
are nurtured with the greatest delicacy, and 
their slightest wants and ailments attended 
to. Nothing is more deserving of remark 
in Spanish grooming, than the care exhibited 
in clipping and trimming various parts of 
the horse, where the growth of hair is con- 
sidered as prejudicial to the perfect health 
and cleanliness of the animal ; particular at- 
tention being always paid to the pastern, that 
fiart of the foot which lies between the fet- 
ock and the hoof, to guard against the 
arestin, that cutaneous disorder which is the 
dread of the Spanish groom, on which ac- 
count the services of a skilful esquilador are 
continually in requisition. 

The esquilador, when proceeding to the 
exercise of his vocation, generally carries 
under his arm a small box containing the in- 
struments necessary, and which consist prin- 
cipally of various pairs of scissors, and the 
acidly two short sticks, tied together with 
whipcord at the end, by means of which the 
lower lip of the horse, should he prove res- 
tive, is twisted, and the animal reduced to 



speedy subjection. In the girdle of the es- 
quilador are stuck the large scissors called in 
Spanish lijeras, and in the Gypsy tongue 
cuchas, with which he principally works. He 
operates upon the backs, ears, and tails of 
mules and borricos, which are invariably 
sheared quite bare, that if the animals are 
galled, either by their harness or the loads 
which they carry, the wounds may be less 
liable to fester, and be more easy to cure. 
Whilst engaged with horses, he confines him- 
self to the feet and ears. The esquiladores 
in the two Castiles, and in those provinces 
where the Gitanos do not abound, are for 
the most part Aragonese ; but in the others, 
and especially in Andalusia, they are of the 
Gypsy race. The Gitanos are wonderfully 
expert in the use of the cachas, which they 
handle in a manner practised no where but 
in Spain; and with this instrument the poorer 
class principally obtain their bread. 

In one of their couplets allusion is made to 
this occupation in the following manner:— - 

" I'll rise to-morrow bread to earn, 
For hunger's worn me grim ; 

Of all I meet 111 ask in turn, 
If they've no beasts to trim." 

Sometimes, whilst shearing the foot of a 
horse, exceedingly small scissors are neces- 
sary, for the purpose of removing fine soli- 
tary hairs; for a Spanish groom will tell you 
that a horse's foot behind ought to be kept as 
clean and smooth as the hand of a senora; 
such scissors can only be procured at Madrid. 
My sending two pair of this kind to a Cor- 
dovese Gypsy, from whom I had experienced 
much attention whilst in that city, was the 
occasion of my receiving a singular epistle 
from another whom I scarcely knew, and 
which I shall insert as being an original 
Gypsy composition, and in some points not 
a little characteristic of the people of whom 
I am now writing. 

"Cordova, 20th day January, 1837. 
" SENOR DON JORGE, 

"After saluting you and hoping that you 
are well, I proceed to tell you that the two 
pair of scissors arrived at this town of Cor- 
dova with him whom you sent them by ; but, 
unfortunately, they were given to another 
Gypsy, whom you neither knew nor spoke to 
nor saw in your life ; for it chanced that he 
who brought them was a friend of mine, and 
he told me that, he had brought two pair of 
scissors which an Englishman had given him 
for the Gypsies ; whereupon I, understanding 
it was yourself, instantly said to him, 'Those 
scissors are forme;' he told me, however, 
that he had already given them to another, 
and he is a Gypsy who was not even in Cor- 
dova during the time you were. Neverthe- 
less, Don Jorge, I am very grateful for your 
thus remembering me, although I did not re- 
ceive your present, and in order that you 
may know who I am, my name is Antonio 
Salazar, a man pitted with the small-pox, and 
the very first who spoke to you in Cordova 
in the posada where you were; and you told 



G4 



THE ZINCALI. 



me to come and see you next day at eleven, 
and I went, and we conversed together alone. 
Therefore 1 should wish you to do me the 
favour to send me scissors for trimming 
beasts, — good scissors, mind you, — such 
would be a very great favour, and I should 
be ever grateful, for here in Cordova there 
are none, or if there be they are good for 
nothing. Sefior Don Jorge, you remember I 
told you that I was an esquilador by trade, 
and only by that I got bread for my babes. 
Senor Don Jorge, if you do send me the scis- 
sors for trimming, pray write and direct to 
the alley De la Londiga, No. 28, to Antonio 
Salazar, in Cordova. This is what I have to 
tell you, and do you ever command your 
trusty servant, who kisses your hand and is 
eager to serve you. 

"Antonio Salazar." 

FIRST COUPE.ET. 

"That. I may clip and trim the beasts, a pair of cachas 
grant, 
If not, 1 fear my luckless babes will perish all of want. 

SECOND COUPLET. 

" If thcu a pair of cachas grant, that I my babes may 
feed, 
I'll pray to the Almighty God, that thee he ever speed." 

It is by no means my intention to describe 
the exact state and condition of the Gitanos 
in every town and province where they are 
to be found; perhaps, indeed, it will be con- 
sidered that I have already been more cir- 
cumstantial and particular than the case re- 
quired. The other districts which they in- 
habit are principally those of Catalonia, 
Murcia, and Valencia ; and they are likewise 
to be met with in the Basque provinces, where 
they are called Egipcioac or Egyptians. 
What I next purpose to occupy myself with, 
are some general observations on the habits, 
and the physical and moral state of the Gi- 
tanos throughout Spain, and of the position 
which they hold in society. 



CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE PRESENT STATE 
OF THE GITANOS. — EFFECTS OF EDUCA- 
TION. — INEFFICIENCY OF THE OLD LAWS. 

PROSPECTS OF THE GITANOS. — PARTIAL 

REFORMATION. — DECLINE OF THE GYPSY 

SECT. — FAIR OF LEON. LOVE OF RACE. 

— GYPSY EXECUTED. — NUMERICAL DE- 
CREASE. 

Already, from the two preceding chapters, 
it will have been perceived that the condition 
of the Gitanos in Spain has been subjected of 
late to considerahle modification. The words 
of the Gypsy of Badajoz are indeed, in some 
respects, true ; they are no longer the people 
that they were ; the roads and " despoblados " 
have ceased to be infested by them, and the 
traveller is no longer exposed to much danger 
on their account; they at present confine 



themselves, for the most part, to towns and 
villages, and if they occasionally wander 
abroad it is no longer in armed bands, for- 
midable for their numbers, and carrying ter- 
ror and devastation in all directions, bivou- 
acking near solitary villages and devouring 
the substance of the unfortunate inhabitants, 
or occasionally threatening even large towns, 
as in the singular case of Logrono, men- 
tioned by Francisco de Cordova* The Gita- 
nos no longer dream of committing excesses 
such as these, and the reader may be excused 
for demanding whether, in the chang-e which 
has taken place, their minds and morals "have 
not been improved as well as modified of late 
years; and what have been the means em- 
ployed, or the accidental causes which have 
led to such a result. We shall therefore, as 
briefly as possible, afford as much elucidation 
on these points as the sphere of our know- 
ledge will permit. 

The Gitanos have, to a considerable de- 
gree, renounced their wandering habits, and 
their name is no longer a sound of terror to 
the peaceable traveller. By residing in towns 
they have insensibly become more civilized 
than their ancestors, who passed the greatest 
part of their time amongst the deserts and 
mountains ; their habits and manners are less 
ferocious, for all wandering tribes may be 
ranked amongst the savage people of the 
earth, whose very reason is little better than 
a brute instinct, and who, indeed, in other 
respects, are but very few degrees superior 
to the brute creation. The culture of their 
minds has not been entirely neglected, and 
upon the whole their education and acquire- 
ments are not inferior to those of the lower 
classes of the Spaniards. Tt is not uncommon 
to find amongst the men, especially of the 
rising generation, individuals able to read 
and write in a manner by no means con- 
temptible. It is true that amongst the women 
such instances do not occur, but then the 
great majority of the female part of the 
Spanish population itself is entirely unedu- 
cated; many females, even of respectable 
station, being quite ignorant of letters, whilst 
those of inferior grade are as illiterate as the 
Gitanas. It is probable that the Spanish 
Gypsies have had their full share of the im- 
provement in mental education, which during 
the present century has been going on in 
Spain, where formerly learning of any kind 
was entirely confined to the nobility, to the 
priesthood and the legal class. Had the an- 
cient laws continued in force, which branded 
the Gitanos as an impure caste, and which 
placed them at an immeasurable distance 
from other members of society in Spain, it is 
difficult to conceive that they would have 
participated in this advance of education ; the 
schools would have been most assuredly 
closed ngainst their children, and notwith- 
standing that they invariably found numerous 
individuals to protect and encourage them in 
their unlawful practices and avocations, which 
made them the pests of society, they would 
hardly have found minds philanthropic enough 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



65 



to interpose for the purpose of procuring them 
the means of eventually redeeming the race 
from the state of degradation in which it 
grovelled ; nor is it probable that the Gitanos 
themselves would have made any considera- 
ble sacrifices to obtain that end. But on be- 
ing declared on a level with the other Spa- 
niards, they naturally enough were desirous 
of becoming participators in any advantages 
within the reach of the Spaniards in general, 
though certainly with no intention of be- 
coming, in any respect, worse Gypsies than 
they had hitherto been, or of abandoning one 
point of their Gitanismo. There is no sect 
in the world which professes ignorance, or 
amongst whose members ignorance is con- 
sidered an advantage ; there are sects of 
murderers, for example, the Maravars of Ind ; 
there are sects of thieves, for example, the 
Thugs of the East, and the Gypsies of Eu- 
rope ; yet neither Maravar nor Gypsy would 
be expelled from these societies for the fact 
of being able to read or write, which would 
be considered as any thing but disqualifica- 
tion ; yet certain it is that, provided education 
were more generally extended, there would 
be fewer Thugs and Gypsies, as it is only 
from the uneducated orders that such people 
arise. 

To acquire only the rudiments of education, 
it is necessary to subject the mind to a spe- 
cies of discipline which, in most cases, exerts 
a salutary influence over the human being; 
education, however slight, never yet made 
an individual reckless, but has sobered many, 
and preserved them from crime by opening 
their eyes to the consequences of evil actions. 

Has Gitanismo, which is :the Gypsy sect, 
increased in Spain during the last seventy 
years'? The answer is comprised within a 
monosyllable, and that a decided negative. 
The Gitanos are not so numerous as in for- 
mer times, witness those barrios in various 
towns still denominateu vHtanerias, but from 
whence the Gitanos have Jisappeared even 
like the Moors from the Morerias ; nor are 
the Gitanos of the present day so daring, nor 
their excesses so flagrant as in former times, 
witness the total suspension of those edicts 
which were continually being fulminated 
against them from the throne and the cortes. 
At present neither their actions nor their 
numbers can create much reasonable ground 
for apprehension, however dishonest and 
knavish they may be, which facts lead us to 
the conclusion that Gitanismo is declining 
in Spain, and we shall now proceed to inves- 
tigate the causes of that decline. 

One thing is certain in the history of the 
Gitanos, that the sect flourished and increased 
so long as the law recommended and enjoined 
measures the most harsh and severe for its 
suppression ; the palmy days of Gitanismo 
were those in which the caste was proscribed, 
and its members, in the event of renouncing 
their Gypsy habits, had nothing further to 
expect than the occupation of tilling the 
earth, a dull, hopeless toil; then it wns that 
the Gitanos paid tribute to the inferior mi- 



nisters of justice, and were engaged in illicit 
connexion with those of higher station, and 
by such means baffled the law, whose ven- 
geance rarely fell upon their heads; and then 
it was that they bid it open defiance, retiring 
to the deserts and mountains, and living in 
wild independence by rapine and shedding 
of blood ; for as the law then stood they 
would lose all by resigning their Gitanismo, 
whereas by clinging to it they lived either in 
the independence so dear to them, or beneath 
the protection of their confederates. It would 
appear that in proportion as the law waa 
harsh and severe, so was the Gitano bold 
and secure. The fiercest of these laws was 
the one of Philip the Fifth, passed in the 
year 1745, which commands that the refrac- 
tory Gitanos be hunted down with fire and 
sword ; that it was quite inefficient is satis- 
factorily proved by its being twice reiterated, 
once in the year 46, and again in 49, which 
would scarcely have been deemed necessary 
had it quelled the Gitano. This law, with 
some unimportant modifications, continued 
in force till the year 83, when the famous 
edict of Carlos Tercero superseded it. Will 
any feel disposed to doubt that the preceding 
laws had served to foster what they were in- 
tended to suppress, when we state the re- 
markable fact, that since the enactment of 
that law, as humane as the others were un- 
just, we have heard nothing more of the 
Gitanos from official quarters; they have 
ceased to play a distinct part in the history 
of Spain; and the law no longer speaks of 
them as a distinct people ? The caste of the 
Gitanos still exists, but it is neither so ex- 
tensive nor so formidable as a century ago, 
when the law in denouncing Gitanismo pro- 
posed to the Gitanos the alternatives of death 
for persisting in their profession, or slavery 
for abandoning it. 

There are fierce and discontented spirits 
amongst them, who regret such times, and 
say that Gypsy law is now no more, that the 
Gypsy no longer assists his brother, and that 
union has ceased among them. If this be 
true, can better proof be adduced of the 
beneficial working of the later law] A 
blessing has been conferred on society, and 
in a manner highly creditable to the spirit of 
modern times ; reform has been accomplished, 
not by persecution, not by the gibbet and the 
rack, but by justice and tolerance. The tra- 
veller has flung aside his cloak, not compelled 
by the angry buffeting of the north wind, but 
because the mild, benignant weather makes 
such a defence no longer necessary. The 
law no longer compels the Gitanos to stand 
back to back, on the principle of mutual 
defence, and to cling to Gitanismo to escape 
from servitude and thraldom. 

Taking every thing into consideration, and 
viewing the subject in all its bearings with 
an impartial glance, we are compelled to 
come to the conclusion that the law of Carlos 
Tercero, the provisions of which were dis- 
tinguished by justice and clemency, has been 
the principal if not the only cause of the de- 

G 



66 



THE ZINCALI. 



clinc of Gitanismo in Spain. Other causes, 
of which we are not aware, may have had 
their effect, and it must be remembered that 
during the last seventy years, a revolution 
has been progressing in Spain, slowly, it is 
true, and such a revolution may have affected 
even the Gitanos. Some value ought to be 
attached to the opinion of the Gitanos them- 
selves on this point, who allude to the influ- 
ence which the law of Carlos Tercero nas 
exerted over their condition in the saying 
which has become proverbial amongst them: 
" El Crallis ha nicobado la liri de los Cales." 

By the law, the whole career of the arts 
and sciences is now open to them. Have 
they availed themselves of this privilege! 

Up to the present period but little. What 
more could be expected'? Some of these 
Gypsy chalanes, these bronzed smiths, these 
wild-looking esquiladors can read or write in 
proportion of one man in three or four; what 
more can be expected 1 Would you have the 
Gypsy bantling, born in filth and misery, 
'midst mules and borricos, amidst the mud 
of a choza or the sand of a barranco, grasp 
with its swarthy hands the crayon and easel, 
the compass or the microscope, or the tube 
which renders more distinct the heavenly 
orbs, and essay to become a Murillo, or a 
Feijoo, or a Lorenzo de Hervas, as soon as 
the legal disabilities are removed which 
doomed him to be a thievish jockey or a 
sullen husbandman! Much will have been 
accomplished, if, after the lapse of a hundred 
years, one hundred human beings shall have 
been evolved from the Gypsy stock, who shall 
prove sober, honest, and useful members of 
society, — that stock so degraded, so invete- 
rate in wickedness and evil customs, and so 
hardened by brutalizing laws. Should so 
many beings, should so many souls be rescued 
from temporal misery and eternal wo ; should 
only the half of that number, should only the 
tenth, nay, should only one poor, wretched 
sheep be saved, there will be joy in heaven, 
for much will have been accomplished on 
earth, and those tremendous lines will have 
been falsified which made Mahmoud tremble 
on his throne. 

" For the root that's unclean, hope if you can ; 
No washing e'er whitens the black Zigan ; 
The tree that's bitter by birth and race, 
If in paradise garden to grow you place, 
And water it free with nectar and wine, 
From streams in paradise meads that shine, 
At the end its nature it still declares, 
For bitter is all the fruit it bears. 
If the egg of the raven of noxious breed 
You place 'neath the paradise bird, and feed 
The splendid fowl upon its nest, 
With immortal figs, the food of the blest, 
And give it to drink from Silsibel,* 
Wbii.-t lift; in the egg breatbea Ganrl6I, 
A raven, a raven, the cjz shall bear. 
And the fostering bird shall waste its care." 

Ferdousi. 

The principal evidence which the Gitanos 
have hitherto given that a partial reformation 
has been effected in their habits, is the re- 
linquishment, in a great degree, of that wan- 
dering life of which the ancient laws were 

+ A fountain in Paradise. 



continually complaining, and which was the? 
cause of infinite evils, and tended not a little 
to make the roads insecure. 

Doubtless, there are those who will find 
some difficulty in believing that the mild and 
conciliatory clauses of the law in question 
could have much effect in weaning the Gi- 
tanos from this inveterate habit, and will be 
more disposed to think that this relinquish- 
ment was effected by energetic measures re- 
sorted to by the government, to compel them 
to remain in their places of location. It does 
not appear, however, that such measures were 
ever resorted to. Energy, indeed, in the re- 
moval of a nuisance, is scarcely to be expected 
from Spaniards, under any circumstances. 
All we can say on the subject, with certainty, 
is, that since the repeal of the tyrannical laws, 
wandering has considerably decreased among 
the Gitanos. 

Since the law has ceased to brand them, 
they appear to have come nearer to the com- 
mon standard of humanity, and their genera) 
condition to have been ameliorated. At pre- 
sent, only the very poorest, the parias of the 
race, are to be found wandering about the 
heaths and mountains, and this only in the 
summer time, and their principal motive, ac- 
cording to their own confession, is to avoid 
the expense of house rent; the rest remain at 
home, following their avocations, unless some 
immediate prospect of gain, lawful or unlaw- 
ful, calls them forth; and such is frequently 
the case. They attend most fairs, women 
and men, and on the way frequently bivouack 
in the fields, but this practice must not be 
confounded with systematic wandering. 

Gitanismo, therefore, has not been extin- 
guished, only modified; but that modification 
has been effected within the memory of man, 
whilst previously near four centuries elapsed, 
during which no reform had been produced 
amongst them by the various measures de- 
vised, all of which were distinguished by an 
absence, not only of true policy, but of com- 
mon sense ; it is therefore to be hoped, that 
if the Gitanos are abandoned to themselves, 
by which we mean no arbitrary laws are again 
enacted for their extinction, the sect will 
eventually cease to be, and its members be- 
come confounded with the residue of the 
population; for certainly no Christian, not 
merely philanthropic heart, can desire the 
continuance of any sect or association of 
people, whose fundamental principle seems 
to be to hate all the rest of mankind, and to 
live by deceiving them ; and such is the prac- 
tice of the Gitanos. 

During the last five years, owing to the 
civil wars, the ties which unite society have 
been considerably relaxed ; the law has been 
trampled under foot, and the greatest part of 
Spain overrun with robbers and miscreants, 
who, under pretence of carrying on partisan 
warfare, and not unfrequently under no pre- 
tence at all, have committed the most fright- 
ful oxcospos, plundering and murdering the 
defenceless. Such a state of things would 
have afforded the Gitanos a favourable op- 



FAIR OF LEON. 



67 



portunity to resume their former kind of life, 
and to levy contributions as formerly, wan- 
dering about in bands. Certain, it is, how- 
ever, that they have not sought to repeat their 
ancient excesses, taking advantage of the trou- 
bles of the country; they have gone on, with 
a few exceptions, quietly pursuing that part 
of their system to which they still cling, their 
jockeyism, which, though based on fraud and 
robbery, is far preferable to wandering bri- 
gandage, which necessarily involves the fre- 
quent °shedding of blood. Can better proof 
be adduced, that Gitanismo owes its decline, 
in Soain, not to force, not to persecution, not to 
any want of opportunity of exercising it, but to 
other causes, to one of which we have already 
distinctly pointed, the conferring on the Gi- 
tanos the rights and privileges of other sub- 
jects. 

We have said that the Gitanos have not 
much availed themselves of the permission, 
which the law grants them, of embarking in 
various spheres of life. They remain jock- 
eys, but they have ceased to be wanderers ; 
and the grand object of the law is accom- 
plished. The law forbids them to be jock- 
eys, or to follow the trade of trimming and 
shearing animals, without some other visible 
mode of subsistence. This provision, except 
in a few isolated instances, they evade, and 
the law seeks not, and perhaps wisely, to dis- 
turb them, content with having achieved so 
much. The chief evils of Gitanismo which 
still remain, consist in the systematic frauds 
of the Gypsy jockeys, and the tricks of the 
women. It is incurring considerable risk, 
to purchase a horse, or a mule, even from 
the most respectable Gitano, without a pre- 
vious knowledge of the animal and his for- 
mer possessor, the chances being that he is 
either diseased, or stolen from a distance ; 
and even the sale of a horse to a Gitano 
should be carefully avoided, or the owner 
will, to a certainty, at the conclusion of the 
bargain, find himself most miserably duped 
and cheated. 

The Gitanos in general are very poor, a 
pair of large cachas and various scissors of 
a smaller description constituting their whole 
capital ; occasionally a good hit is made, as 
they call it, but the money does not last 
long, being quickly squandered in feasting 
andf revelry. He who has habitually in his 
house a couple of donkeys is considered a 
thriving Gitano; there are some, however, 
who are wealthy in the strict sense of the 
word, and carry on a very extensive trade 
in horses and mules. These, occasionally, 
visit the most distant fairs, traversing the 
greatest part of Spain. There is a cele- 
brated cattle-fair held at Leon, on St. John's 
or Midsummer day, and on one of these oc- 
casions, being present, £ observed a small 
family of Gitano, consisting of a man of 
about fifty, a female of the same age, and a 
handsome young Gypsy, who was their son ; 
they were richly dressed after the Gypsy 
fashion, the men wearing zamarras with 
aaassy clasps an-d knobs of silver, and the 



woman a species of riding dress witli much 
gold embroidery, and having immense gold 
rings attached to her ears. They came from 
Murcia, a distance of one hundred leagues 
and upwards. Some merchants, to whom 1 
was recommended, informed me that they 
had credit on their house to the amount of 
twenty thousand dollars. 

They experienced rough treatment in the 
fair, and on a very singular account : imme- 
diately on their appearing on the ground the 
horses in the fair, which, perhaps, amounted 
to three thousand, were seized with a sud- 
den and universal panic; it was one of those 
strange incidents for which it is difficult to 
assign a rational cause ; but a panic there 
was amongst the brutes, and a mighty one ; 
the horses neighed, screamed, and plunged, 
endeavouring to escape in all directions: 
some appeared absolutely possessed, stamp- 
ing and tearing, their manes and tails stiffly 
erect, like the bristles of the wild boar — 
many a rider lost his seat. When the panic 
had ceased, and it did cease almost as sud- 
denly as it had arisen, the Gitanos were 
forthwith accused as the authors of it ; it was 
said that they intended to steal the best 
hors,es during the confusion, and the keepers 
of the ground, assisted by a rabble of chalanes, 
who had their private reasons for hating the 
Gitanos, drove them off the field with sticks 
and cudgels. So much for having a bad 
name. 

These wealthy Gitanos, when they are 
not ashamed of their blood or descent, which 
is rarely the case, and are not addicted to 
proud fancies, or " barbales," as they are 
called, possess great influence with the rest 
of their brethren, almost as much as the rab- 
bins amongst the Jews ; their bidding is con- 
sidered law, and the other Gitanos are at 
their devotion. On the contrary, when they 
prefer the society of the Busne to that of 
their own race, and refuse to assist their less 
fortunate brethren in poverty or in prison, 
they are regarded with unbounded contempt 
and abhorrence, as in the case of the rich 
Gypsy of Badajoz, and are not unfrequently 
doomed to destruction: such characters are 
mentioned in their couplets : 

" The Gypsy fiend of Manga mead, 
Who never gave a straw, 
He would destroy for very greed, 
The good Egyptian law. 

The raise Juanito day and night 

Had best with caution go; 
The Gypsy carles of Yeira height 

Have sworn to lay him low." 

However some of the Gitanos may com- 
plain that there is no longer union to be 
found amongst them, there is still much of 
that fellow-feeling which springs from a con- 
sciousness of proceeding from one common 
origin, or, as they love to term it, "blood." 
At present their system exhibits less of a 
commonwealth than when they roamed in 
bands amongst the wilds, and principally 
subsisted by foraging, each.individunl contri- 
buting to the common stock, according to 



6S 



THE ZINCALI. 



his success. The interests of individuals 
are now more distinct, and that close con- 
nexion is of course dissolved which existed 
when they wandered about, and their dan- 
gers, gains, and losses were felt in common ; 
and it can never be too often repeated that 
they are no longer a proscribed race, with 
no rights nor safety save what they gained 
by a close and intimate union. Neverthe- 
less, the Gitano, though he naturally prefers 
his own interest to that of his brother, and 
envies him his gain when he does not ex- 
pect to share in it, is at all times ready to 
side with him against the Busno, because 
the latter is not a Gitano, but of a different 
blood, and for no other reason. When one 
Gitano confides his plans to another, he is 
in no fear that they will be betrayed to the 
Busno, for whom there is no sympathy, and 
when a plan is to be executed which re- 
quires co-operation, they seek not the fellow- 
ship of the Busne but of each other, and if 
successful share the gain like brothers. 

As a proof of the fraternal feeling which 
is not unfrequently displayed amongst the 
Gitanos, I shall relate a circumstance which 
occurred at Cordova a year or two before I 
iirst visited it. One of the poorest of the 
Gitanos murdered a Spaniard with the fatal 
iVLanchegan knife ; for this crime he was 
seized, tried, and found guilty. Blood-shed- 
ding in Spain is not looked upon with much 
abhorrence, and the life of the culprit is sel- 
dom taken, provided he can offer a bribe suf- 
ficient to induce the notary public to report 
favourably upon his case ; but in this instance 
money was of no avail ; the murdered indi- 
vidual left behind him powerful friends and 
connexions, who were determined that jus- 
tice should take its course. It was in vain 
that the Gitanos exerted all their influence 
with the authorities in behalf of their com- 
rade, and such influence was not slight; it 
was in vain that they offered extravagant 
sums that the punishment of death might be 
commuted to perpetual slavery in the dreary 
presidio of Ceuta; [was credibly informed 
that one of the richest Gitanos, by name 
Fruto, offered for his own share of the ran- 
som the sum of five thousand crowns, whilst 
there was not an individual but contributed 
according to his means — nought availed, and 
the Gypsy was executed in the Plaza. The 
day before the execution, the Gitanos, per- 
ceiving that the fate of their brother was 
sealed, one and all quitted Cordova, shutting 
up their houses and carrying with them their 
horses, their mules, their borricos, their 
wives and families, and the greatest part of 
their household furniture. No one knew 
whither they directed their course, nor were 
they seen in Cordova for some months, when 
they again suddenly made their appearance; 
a few, however, never returned. So great 
was the horror of the Gitanos at what had 
occurred, that they were in the habit of say- 
ing that the place was cursed for evermore, 
and when I knew them there were many 
amongst them who, on no account, would 



enter the Plaza which had witnessed the dis- 
graceful end of their unfortunate brother. 

The position which the Gitanos hold in 
society in Spain is the lowest, as might be 
expected; they are considered at best as 
thievish chalans, and the women as half sor- 
ceresses, and in every respect thieves ; there 
is not a wretch, however vile, the outcast of 
the prison and the presidio, who calls him- 
self Spaniard, but would feel insulted by 
being termed Gitano, and would thank God 
that he is not; and yet, strange to say there 
are numbers, and those of the higher classes, 
who seek their company, and endeavour to 
imitate their manners and way of speaking. 
The connexions which they form with the 
Spaniards are not many ; occasionally some 
wealthy Gitano marries a Spanish female, 
but to find a Gitana united to a Spaniard is a 
thing of the rarest occurrence, if it ever takes 
place. It is, of course, by intermarriage alone 
that the two races will ever commingle, and 
before that event is brought about, much 
modification must take place amongst the 
Gitanos, in their manners, in their habits, in 
their affections, and their dislikes, and, per- 
haps, even in their physical peculiarities; 
much must be forgotten on both sides, and 
every thing is forgotten in the course of time. 

Considerable difficulties oppose themselves 
to the attempt of forming a correct census 
of the Gitano population of Spain. Some 
writers, we believe, have estimated the num- 
ber at sixty thousand, or thereabouts ; this 
might possibly be a fair estimate at former 
periods, but it would hardly hold good at the 
present day, when, from the opportunities 
which we have had of observing them, we 
should say that their number cannot exceed 
forty thousand, of which about one third are 
to be found in Andalusia alone. We have 
already expressed our belief that the caste 
has diminished of latter years ; whether this 
diminution was the result of one or many 
causes combined ; of a partial change of 
habits, of pestilence or sickness, of war or 
famine, or of a freer intercourse with the 
Spanish population, we have no means of 
determining, and shall abstain from offering 
conjectures on the subject. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF GYPSY CHARACTER. 

THE GYPSY INNKEEPER OF TARIFA. — THE 
GYPSY SOLDIER OF VALDEPENAS. 

In the autumn of the year 1839, I landed 
at Tarifa, from the coast of Barbary. I ar- 
rived in a small felouk laden with hides for 
Cadiz, to which place I was myself going. 
We stopped at Tarifa in order to perform 
quarantine, which, however, turned out a 
i mere farce, as we were all permitted to come 
! on shore ; the master of the felouk having 



THE GIPSY INNKEEPER. 



69 



bribed the port captain with a Few fowls. We . 
formed a motley group. A rich Moor and his I 
son, a child, with their Jewish servant Yusouf, 
sind myself with my own man Hayim Ben 
Attar, a Jew. After passing through the 
gate, the Moors and their domestic were 
conducted by the master to the house of one 
of his -acquaintance, where he intended they 
should lodge; whilst a sailor was despatched 
with myself and Hayim to the only inn 
which the place afforded. I stopped in the 
street to speak to a person whom I had known 
at Seville. Before we had concluded our dis- 
course, Hayim, who had walked forward, re- 
turned, saving, that the quarters were good, 
land that we were in high luck, for that he 
knew the people of the inn were Jews. 
"'Jews*"" said I, "here in Tarifa, and keep- 
ing an inn, I should be glad to see them." 
•So 1 left my acquaintance and hastened to 
the house. We first entered a stable, of 
which the ground floor of the building con- 
sisted, and ascending a flight of stairs en- 
tered a very large room, and from thence 
passed into a kitchen, in which were several 
people. One was a stout, athletic, burly 
fellow of about fifty, dressed in a buff jerkin 
•and dark cloth pantaloons. His hair was 
black as a coal and exceedingly bushy, his 
face much marked from some disorder, 
and his skin as dark as that of a toad. A 
very tall woman stood by the dresser, much 
resembling him in feature, with the same 
hair and complexion, but with more intelli- 
gence in her eyes than the man, who looked 
heavy and dogged. A dark woman, whom I 
subsequently discovered to be lame, sat in a 
corner, and two or three swarthy girls, from 
fifteen to eighteen years of age, were flitting 
about the room. I also observed a wicked- 
looking boy, who might have been called 
handsome, had not one of his eyes been in- 
jured. "Jews!" said I, in Moorish to Hay- 
im, as I glanced at these people and about 
the room; "These are not Jews, but chil- 
dren of the Dar-bushi-fal." 

" List to the Corohai," said the tall woman 
in broken Gypsy slang; " hear how they jab- 
ber, (hunelad como chamulian,) truly we will 
make them pay for the noise they raise in 
the house." Then coming up to me, she 
demanded with a shout, fearing otherwise 
that I should not understand, whether I 
would not wish to see the room where I was 
to sleep. I nodded: whereupon she led me 
out upon a back terrace, and opening the 
door of a small room, of which there were 
three, asked me if it would suit. "Perfectly," 
said I, and returned with her to the kitchen. 

11 O, what a handsome face! what a royal 
person!" exclaimed the whole family as I 
returned, in Spanish, but in the' whining, 
canting tones peculiar to the Gypsies, when 
they are bent on victimising. "A more ugly 
Busno it has never been our chance to see," 
said the same voices in the next breath, 
speaking in the jargon of the tribe. " Won't 
your Moorish Royalty please to cat some- 
thing]" said the tall hag. "We have no- 
10 



thing in the house ; but I will run out and 
buy a fowl, which I hope may prove a royal 
peacock to nourish and strengthen you." 
"I hope it may turn to drow in your en- 
trails," she muttered to the rest in Gypsy. 
She then ran down, and in a minute returned 
with an old hen, which on my arrival, I had 
observed below in the stable. " See this 
beautiful fowl," said she, "I have been run- 
ning over all Tarifa to procure it for your 
kingship; trouble enough I have had to ob- 
tain it, and dear enough it has cost me. 1 
will now cut its throat." "Before you kill 
it," said I, "I should wish to know what 
you paid for it, that there may be no dispute 
about it in the account." "Two dollars I 
paid for it, most valorous and handsome sir; 
two dollars it cost me, out of my own quiso- 
bi — out of my own little purse." I saw it 
was high time to put an end to these zala- 
merias, and therefore exclaimed in Gitano, 
"You mean two brujis (reals,) O mother of 
all the witches, and that is twelve cuarlos 
more than it is worth." "Ay Dios mio, 
whom have we here?" exclaimed the females. 
" One," I replied, " who knows you well and 
all your ways. Speak ! am I to have the 
hen for two reals? if not, I shall leave the 
house this moment." "Oyes, to be sure, 
brother, and for nothing if you wish it," said 
the tall woman, in natural and quite altered 
tones; "but why did you enter the house 
speaking in Corohai like a Bengui? We 
thought you a Busno, but we now see that 
you are of our religion ; pray sit down and 
tell us where you have been." 

Myself. — "Now, my good people, since 
I have answered your questions, it is but 
right that you should answer some of mine; 
pray who are you? and how happens it that 
you are keeping this inn?" 

Gypsy Hag. — "Verily, brother, we can 
scarcely tell you who we are. All we know 
of ourselves is, that we keep this inn, to 
our trouble and sorrow, and that our parents 
kept it before us ; we were all born in this 
house, where I suppose we shall die." 

Myself. — " Who is the master of the house, 
and whose are these children V 

Gypsy Hag. — " The master of the house 
is the fool, my brother, who stands before 
you without saying a word ; to him belong 
these children, and the cripple in the chair 
is his wife, and my cousin. He has also 
two sons who are grown up men ; one is a 
chumajarri (shoemaker,) and the other serve* 
a tanner." 

Myself. — "Is it not contrary to the law 
of the Cales to follow such trades." 

Gypsy Hag. — " We know of no law, and 
little of the Cales themselves. Ours is the 
only Calo family in Tarifa, and we never 
left it in our lives, except occasionally to go 
on the smuggling lay to Gibraltar. True it 
is that the Cales when they visit Tarifa put 
up at our house, sometimes to our cost. 
There was one Rafael, son of the rich Fruto 
of Cordova, here last summer, to huv <u> 
horses, and he departed a bcria and a !':..; 
o2 



70 



THE ZINCALI- 



in our debt; however, I do not grudge it him, 
for he is a handsome and clever chabo — a 
fellow of many capacities. There was more 
than one Busno had cause to rue his coming 
to Tarifa." 

Myself. — "Do you live on good terms 
with the Busne of Tarifa?" 

Gypsy Hag. — "Brother, we live on the 
best terms with the Busne of Tarifa; espe- 
cially with the errays. The first people in 
Tarifa come to this house, to have their baji 
told by the cripple in the chair and by my- 
self. I know not how it is, but we are more 
considered by the grandees than the poor, 
who hate and loathe us. When my first and 
only infant died, for I have been married, 
the child of one of the principal people was 
put to me to nurse, but I hated it for its 
white blood, as you may well believe. It 
never throve, for I did it a private mischief, 
and though it grew up and is now a youth, 
it is — mad." 

Myself. — " With whom will your bro- 
ther's children marry] You say there are 
no Gypsies here." 

Gypsy Hag. — "Ay de mi hermano ! It 
is that which grieves me. I would rather 
see them sold to the Moors than married to 
the Busne. When Rafael was here he 
wished to persuade the chumajarri to accom- 
pany him to Cordova, and promised to pro- 
vide for him, and to find him a wife among 
the Callees of that town ; but the faint heart 
would not, though I myself begged him to 
comply. As for the curtidor (tanner,) he 
goes every night to the house of a Busnee ; 
and once, when I reproached him with it, he 
threatened to marry her. I intend to take 
my knife, and to wait behind the door in the 
dark, and when she comes out to gash her 
over the eyes. I trow he will have little 
desire to wed with her then." 

Myself. — " Do many Busne from the coun- 
try put up at this house?" 

Gypsy Hag. — " Not so many as formerly, 
brother; the labourers from the Campo say 
that we are all thieves ; and that it is impos- 
sible for any one but a Calo to enter this 
house without having the shirt stripped from 
Ins back. They go to the houses of their 
acquaintance in the town, for they fear to 
enter these doors. I scarcely know why, 
far my brother is the veriest fool in Tarifa. 
Were it not for his face, I should say that 
lie is no Chabo, for he cannot speak, and 
permits every chance to slip through his 
fingers. Many a good mule and borrico 
have gone out of the stable below, which he 
might have secured, had he but tongue enough 
to have cozened the owners. But he is a 
fool, as I said before ; he cannot speak, and 
is no Chabo. 

How far the person in question, who sat 
fill the while smoking his pipe, with the 
most unperturbed tranquillity, deserved the 
character bestowed upon him by his sister, 
will presently appear. It is not my inten- 
tion to describe here all the strange things 



I both saw &nd heard in this Gypsy inn. Se- 
veral Gypsies arrived from the country during 
the six days that I spent within its walls ; 
one of them, a man, from Moron, was re- 
ceived with particular cordiality, he having 
a son, whom he was thinking of betrothing 
to one of the Gypsy daughters. Some 
females of quality likewise visited the house 
to gossip, like true Andalusians. It was 
singular, to observe the behaviour of the 
Gypsies to these people, especially that of 
the remarkable woman some of whose con- 
versation I have given above. She whined, 
she canted, she blessed, she talked of beauty, 
of colour, of eyes, of eye-brows, and pestanas, 
(eyelids,) and of hearts which were aching 
for such and such a lady. Amongst others, 
came a very fine woman, the widow of a 
colonel lately slain in battle ; she brought 
with her a beautiful innocent little girl, her 
daughter, between three and four years of 
age. The Gypsy appeared to adore her; 
she sobbed, she shed tears, she kissed the 
child, she blessed it, she fondled it. I had 
my eye upon her countenance, and it brought 
to my recollection that of a she-wolf, which 
I had once seen in Russia, playing with her 
whelp beneath a birch-tree. " You seem to 
love that child very much, O, my mother," 
said I to her, as the lady was departing. 

Gypsy Hag. — "No lo camelo hijo ! I 
do not love it, O my son, 1 do not love it; I 
love it so much, that I wish it may break its 
legs as it goes down stairs, and its mother 
also." 

On the evening of the fourth day, I was 
seated on the stone bench at the stable door, 
taking the fresco; the Gypsy innkeeper sat 
beside me, smoking his pipe, and silent as 
usual; presently a man and woman with a 
borrico, or donkey, entered the portal. I 
took little or no notice of a circumstance so 
slight, but I was presently aroused by hear- 
ing the Gypsy's pipe drop upon the ground : 
I looked at him, and scarcely recognised his 
face. It was no longer dull, black, and 
heavy, but was lighted up with an expres- 
sion so extremely villanous, that I felt uneasy. 
His eyes were scanning the recent comers, 
especially the beast of burden, which was a 
beautiful female donkey. He was almost in- 
stantly at their side, assisting to remove its 
housings, and the alforjas, or bags. His 
tongue had become unloosed, as if by sor- 
cery ; and far from being unable to speak, he 
proved that, when it suited his purpose, he 
could discourse with wonderful volubility. 
The donkey was soon tied to the manger, 
and a large measure of barley emptied before 
it, the greatest part of which the Gypsy boy 
presently, removed, his father having pur- 
posely omitted to mix the barley with the 
straw, with which the Spanish mangers are 
always kept filled. The guests were hur- 
ried up stairs as soon as possible. I re- 
mained below, and subsequently strolled about 
the town and on the bench. It was about 
nine o'clock when 1 returned to the inn to 



THE GYPSY INNKEEPER. 



71 



retire to rest ; strange things had evidently 
been going on during my absence. As I 
passed through the large room, on my way 
to my apartment, lo, the table was set out 
with much wine, fruits, and viands. There 
sat the man from the country, three parts 
intoxicated ; the Gypsy, already provided 
with another pipe, sat on his knee, with his 
right arm most aiFectionately round his neck ; 
on one side sat the chumajarri drinking and 
smoking; on the other, the tanner. Behold, 
poor humanity, thought I to myself, in the 
hands of devils; in this manner are human 
souls insnared to destruction by the fiends 
of the pit. The females had already taken 
possession of the woman at the other end of 
the table, embracing her, and displaying 
every mark of friendship and affection. I 
passed on, but ere I reached my apartment, 
I heard the words mule and donkey. " Adios," 
said I, for I but too well knew what was on 
the carpet. 

In the back stable the Gypsy kept a mule, 
a most extraordinary animal, which was em- 
ployed in bringing water to the house, a task 
which it effected with no slight difficulty ; 
it was reported to be eighteen years of age ; 
one of its eyes had been removed by some 
accident, it was foundered, and also lame, 
the result of a broken leg. This animal was 
the laughing-stock of all Tarifa ; the Gypsy 
grudged it the very straw on which alone he 
fed it, and had repeatedly offered it for sale 
at a dollar, which he could never obtain. 
During the night there was much merriment 
going on, and I could frequently distinguish 
the voice of the Gypsy raised to a boisterous 
pitch. In the morning, the Gypsy hag en 
tered my apartment, bearing the breakfast 
of myself and Hayim. " What were you 
about last night 1" said I. 

"We were bargaining with the Busno. 
evil overtake him, and he has exchanged us 
the ass, for the mule and the reckoning," 
said the hag, in whose countenance triumph 
was blended with anxiety. 

" Was he drunk when he saw the mule?" 
I demanded. 

"He did not see her at all, O my son, but 
we told him we had a beautiful mule, worth 
any money, which we were anxious to dis- 
pose of, as a donkey suited our purpose bet- 
ter. We are afraid that when he sees her 
he will repent his bargain, and if he calls off 
within four-and-twenty hours, the exchange 
is null, and the justicia will cause us to re- 
store the ass ; we have, however, already re- 
moved her to our huerta out of the town, 
where we have hid her below the ground. 
Dios sabe (God knows) how it will turn 
out." 

When the man and the woman saw the 
lame, foundered, one-eyed creature, for which 
and the reckoning they had exchanged their 
own beautiful borrica, they stood confounded. 
It was about ten in the morning, and they 
had not altogether recovered from the fumes 
of the w'.ne of the preceding night ; at. last 
the man, with a frightful oath, exclaimed to 



the innkeeper, "Restore my donkey, you 
Gypsy villain." 

" It cannot be, brother," replied the latter, 
"your donkey is by this time three leagues 
from here ; I sold her this morning to a man 
1 do not know, and I am afraid I shall have a 
hard bargain with her, for he only gave two 
dollars, as she was unsound. O, you have 
taken me in, I am a poor fool, as they call 
me here, and you understand much, very- 
much, baribu."* 

" Her value was thirty-five dollars, thou 
demon," said the countryman, "and the jus- 
ticia will make you pay that." 

"Come, come, brother," said the Gypsy, 
"all this is mere conversation, you have a 
capital bargain, to-day the mercado is held, 
and you shall sell the mule, I will go with 
you myself. O, you understand baribu; sister, 
bring the bottle of anise; the senor and the 
senora must drink a copita." After much 
persuasion, and many oaths, the man and 
woman were weak enough to comply; when 
they had drank several glasses, they departed 
for the market, the Gypsy leading the mule. 
In about two hours they returned with the 
wretched beast, but not exactly as they went; 
a numerous crowd followed, laughing and 
hooting. The man was now frantic, and the 
woman yet more so. They forced their way 
up stairs to collect their baggage, which they 
soon effected, and were about to leave the 
house, vowing revenge. Now ensued a truly 
terrific scene, there were no more blandish- 
ments ; the Gypsy men and women were in 
arms, uttering the most frightful execrations ; 
as the woman came down stairs, the females 
assailed her like lunatics; the cripple poked 
at her with a stick, the tall hag clawed at 
her hair, whilst the father Gypsy walked 
close beside the man, his hand on his clasp- 
knife, looking like nothing in this world : the 
man, however, on reaching the door, turned 
to him and said : "Gypsy demon, my borrica 
by three o'clock — or you know the rest, the 
justicia." 

The Gypsies remained filled with rage and 
disappointment; the hag vented her spite on 
her brother. "'Tis your fault," said she; 
"fool! you have no tongue; you a chabo, 
you can't speak ;" whereas, within a few- 
hours, he had perhaps talked more than an 
auctioneer during a three days' sale : but he 
reserved his words for fitting occasions, and 
now sat as usual, sullen and silent, smoking 
his pipe. 

The man and woman made their appear- 
ance at three o'clock, but they came — intox- 
icated; the Gypsy's eyes glistened — blandish- 
ment was again had recourse to. " Come 
and sit down with the cavalier here," whined 
the family; "he is a friend of ours, and will 
soon arrange matters to your satisfaction." 
I arose, and went into the street; the hag 
followed mo. " Will you not assist us, 
brother, or are you no chabo]" she mut- 
tered. 

* A Oypsy word, signifying "exceeding much." 



72 



THE ZINC ALL 



" I will have nothing to do with your mat- 
ters," said L 

" I know who will," said the hag, and hur- 
ried down the street. 

The man and woman, with much noise, 
demanded their donkey, the innkeeper made 
no answer, and proceeded to fill up several 
glasses with the anisado. In about a quarter 
of an hour, the Gypsy hag returned with a 
young man, well dressed, and with a genteel 
air, but with something wild and singular in 
his eyes. He seated himself by the table, 
smiled, took a glass of liquor, drank part of 
it, smiled again, and handed it to the coun- 
tryman. The latter seeing himself treated 
in this friendly manner by a cabaliero, was 
evidently much flattered, took off his hat to 
the new comer, and drank, as did the woman 
also. The glass was filled, and refilled, till 
they became yet more intoxicated. I did not 
hear the young man say a word : he appeared 
a passive automaton. The Gypsies, how- 
ever, spoke for him, and were profuse of 
compliments. It was now proposed that the 
caballaro should settle the dispute : a long 
and noisy conversation ensued, the young 
man looking vacantly on : the strange people 
had no money, and had already run up ano- 
ther bill at a wine house to which they had 
retired. At last it was proposed, as if by 
the young man, that the Gypsy should pur- 
chase his own mule for two dollars, and for- 
give the strangers the reckoning of the pre- 
ceding night. To this they agreed, being 
apparently stultified with the liquor, and the 
money being paid to them in the presence of 
witnesses, they thanked the friendly mediator 
and reeled away. 

Before they left the town that ~ight, 
they had contrived to spend the entire two 
dollars, and the woman who first recovered 
her senses, was bitterly lamenting that they 
had permitted themselves to be despoiled so 
cheaply oi&pren&a tan preciosa, as was the 
donkey. Upon the whole, however, I did 
not much pity them. The woman was cer- 
tainly not the man's wife. The labourer 
had probably left his village with some stroll- 
ing harlot, bringing with him the animal 
which had previously served to support him- 
self and family. 

I believe that the Gypsy read, at the first 
glance, their history, and arranged matters 
accordingly. The donkey was soon once 
more in the stable, and that night there was 
much rejoicing in the Gypsy inn. 

Who was the singular mediator'? He was 
neither more nor less than the foster child of 
the Gypsy hag, the unfortunate being whom 
she had privately injured in his infancy. After 
having thus served them as an instrument in 
their villany, he was told to go home 



THE GYPSY SOLDIER OF VALDEPENAS. 

It was at Madrid one fine afternoon in the 
beginning of March, 1838, that, as I was sit- 
ting behind my table in a cabinete, as it is 
called, of the third floor of No. 10 in the 
Calle De Santiago, having just taken my 



meal, my hostess entered and informed me 
that a military officer wished to speak to me, 
adding, in an under tone, that he looked a 
strange guest. I was acquainted with no 
military officer in the Spanish service; but 
as at i hat time I expected daily to be arrested 
for having distributed the Bible, I thought 
that very possibly this officer might have 
been sent to perform that piece of duty. I 
instantly ordered him to be admitted, where- 
upon a thin active figure, somewhat above 
the middle height, dressed in a blue uniform, 
with a long sword hanging at his side, tripped 
into the room. Depositing his regimental 
hat on the ground, he drew a chair to the 
table, and seating himself, placed his elbowa 
on the board, and supporting his face with 
his hands, confronted me, gazing steadfastly 
upon me, without uttering a word. I looked 
no less wistfully at him, and was of the same 
opinion as my hostess, as to the strangeness 
of my guest. He was about fifty, with thin 
flaxen hair covering the sides of his head, 
which at the top was entirely bald. His 
eyes were small, and, like ferrets', red and 
fiery. His complexion like a brick, a dull 
red, chequered with spots of purple. "May 
f inquire your name and business, Sir?" I at 
length demanded. 

Stranger. — "My name is Chaleco of Val- 
depefias; in the time of the French I served 
as bragante fighting for Ferdinand VII. I 
am now a captain on half pay in the service 
of Donna Isabel; as for my business here it 
is to speak with you. Do you know this 
book?" 

Myself.— " This book is Saint Luke's 
Gospel in the Gypsy language ; how can this 
k concern you?" 

Stranger. — " No one more. It is in the 
language of my people." 

Myself. — " You do not pretend to say that 
you are a Calo?" 

Stranger. — " I do ! I am Zincalo, by the 
mother's side. My father, it is true, was 
one of the Busne, but 1 glory in being a 
Calo, and care not to acknowledge other 
blood." 

Myself — "How became you possessed of 
that book?" 

Stranger. — "I was this morning in the 
Prado, where I met two women of our peo- 
ple, and amongst other things they told me 
that they had a Gabicote in our language. 
T did not believe them at first, but they pulled 
it out, and I found their words true. They 
then spoke to me of yourself, and told me 
where you live, so I took the book from them 
and am come to see you." 

Myself. — "Are you able to understand 
this book?" 

Straiigcr. — "Perfectly, though it is written 
in very crabbed language :* but I learnt to 
read Calo when very young. My mother 
was a good Calli, and early taught me both 
to speak and read it. She too had a Gabi- 
cote, but not printed like this, and it treated 
of a different matter." 

* " LcngiM nnij- ccrrada." 



THE GYPSY SOLDIER. 



73 



Myself. — " How came your mother, being 
a. good Calli, to marry one of a different 
blood!" 

Stranger. — " It was no fault of hers ; there 
was no remedy. In her infancy she lost her 
parents, who were executed ; and she was 
abandoned by all, till my father, taking com- 
passion on her, brought her up and educated 
her; at last he made her his wife, though 
three times her age. She, however, remem- 
bered her blood and hated my father, and 
taught me to hate him likewise, and avoid 
him. When a boy, I used to stroll about 
the plains, that I might not see my father ; 
and my father would follow me and beg me 
to look upon him, and would ask me what I 
wanted ; and I would reply, Father, the only 
thing I want is to see you dead." 

Myself.—" That was strange language 
from a child to its parent." 

Stranger. — " It was, — but you know the 
couplet,* which says, 'I do not wish to be a 
lord — I am by birth a Gypsy; — I do not wish 
to be a Gentleman — I am content with being 
a Calo!'" 

Myself. — " I am anxious to hear more of 
your history; pray proceed." 

Stranger. — " When I was about twelve 
years old my father became distracted, and 
died. I then continued with my mother for 
some years ; she loved me much, and procured 
a teacher to instruct me in Latin. At last 
she died, and then there was a pleyto (law- 
suit.) I took to the sierra and became a 
highwayman : — but the wars broke out. My 
cousin Jara, of Valdepenas, raised a troop of 
bragantes.i I enlisted with him and distin- 
guished myself very much ; there is scarcely 
a man or woman in Spain but has heard e 
Jara and Chaleco. I am now captain in the 
service of Donna Isabel — I am covered with 
wounds — I am — ugh ! ugh ! ugh ! — " 

He had commenced coughing, and in a 
manner which perfectly astounded me. I had 
heard hooping-coughs, consumptive-coughs, 
coughs caused by colds and other accidents, 
hut a cough so horrible and unnatural as that 
of the Gypsy soldier, I had never witnessed 
in the course of my travels. In a moment 
he was bent double, his frame writhed and 
laboured, the veins of his forehead were 
frightfully swollen, and his complexion be- 
cameblack as the blackest blood; hescreamed, 
he snorted, he barked, and appeared to be on 
the point of suffocation, — yet more explosive 
became the cough; and the people of the 
house, frightened, came running into the 
apartment. I cried, "The man is perishing, 
run instantly for a surgeon !" He heard me. 
and with a quick movement raised his left 
hand as if to countermand the order; — another 
struggle, then one mighty throe, which seemed 
to search his deepest intestines; and he re- 

* " No catnelo ser eray, es Calo mi nacimiento 
No camelo ser eray, con ser Calo me contento." 

f Armed partisans, or guerillas on horseback : they 
Waited a war of extermination against the French, hut 
at the same time plundered their countrymen without 
scruple. 



mained motionless, his head on his knee. 
The cough had left him, and within a minute 
or two he again looked up. 

"That is a dreadful cough, friend," said I, 
when he was somewhat recovered. "How 
did you get it]" 

Gypsy Soldier. — " I am — shot through the 
lungs — brother! Let me but take breath, 
and I will show you the hole — the agujero." 

He continued with me a considerable 
time, and showed not the slightest disposition 
to depart; the cough returned twice, but not 
so violently; — at length, having an engage- 
ment, I arose, and apologizing, told him I 
must leave him. The next day he came 
again at the same hour, but he found me not, 
as 1 was abroad dining with a friend. On 
the third day, however, as I was sitting down 
to dinner, in he walked, unannounced. 1 am 
rather hospitable than otherwise, so T cor- 
dially welcomed him, and requested him to 
partake of my meal. " Con mucho gusto," 
he replied, and instantly took his place at 
the table. I was again astonished, for if 
his cough was frightful his appetite was 
yet more so. He ate like a wolf of the 
sierra ; — soup, puchero, fowl and bacon dis- 
appeared before him in a twinkling. I or- 
dered in cold meat, which he presently de- 
spatched ; a large piece of cheese was then 
produced. We had been drinking water, j, 

" Where is the wine 1 ?" said he. 

"I never use it," I replied. 

He looked blank. The hostess, hon 
who was present waiting, said, "If the gen- 

L.ot& Trtrarty 
full which I will instantly fetch." 

The skin bottle, when full, might contain 

out _ur quai.s. She filled him a very 
large glass, and was removing the skin, but 
he prevented her, saying, "Leave it, my 
good woman ; my brother here will settle 
with you for the little I shall use." 

He now lighted his cigar, and it was evi- 
dent that he had made good his quarters. On 
the former occasion I thought his behaviour 
sufficiently strange, but I liked it still less on 
the present. Every fifteen minutes he emp- 
tied his glass, which contained at least a 
pint; his conversation became horrible. He 
related the atrocities which he had com- 
mitted when a robber and bragante in La 
Mancha. "It was our custom," said he, "to 
tie our prisoners to the olive trees, and then, 
putting our horses to full speed, to tilt at 
them with our spears." As he continued to 
drink he became waspish and quarrelsome : 
he had hitherto talked Castilian, but he would 
now only converse in Gypsy and in Latin, the 
last of which languages he spoke with great 
fluency, though ungrammatically. He told 
me that he had killed six men in duels; and, 
drawing his sword, fenced about the room. 
I saw by the manner in which he handled it, 
that he was master of his weapon. His 
cough did not return, and he said it seldom 
afflicted him when he dined well. He gave 
me to understand that ho had received no 
pay for two years. "Therefore vou visit 



74 



THE ZINCALI. 



me," thought t. At the end of three hours, 
perceiving that he exhibited no signs of taking 
his departure, I arose, and said I must again 
leave him. "As you please, brother," said 
he ; " use no ceremony with me, I am fatigued 
and will wait a little while." I did not re- 
turn till eleven at night, when my hostess 
informed me that he had just departed, pro- 
mising to return next day. He had emptied 
the bota to the last drop, and the cheese pro- 
duced being insufficient for him, he sent for 
an entire Dutch cheese on my account; part 
of which he had eaten and the rest carried 
away. I now saw that I had formed a most 
troublesome acquaintance, of whom it was 
highly necessary to rid myself, if possible; I 
therefore dined out for the next nine days. 

For a week he came regularly at the usual 
hour, at the end of which time he desisted ; 
the hostess was afraid of hirn, as she said 
that he was a brujo or wizard, and only spoke 
to him through the wicket. 

On the tenth day I was cast into prison, 
where I continued several weeks. Once, 
during my confinement, he called at the 
house, and being informed of my mishap, 
drew his sword, and vowed with horrible 
imprecations to murder the prime minister 
Ofalia, for having dared to imprison his bro- 
ther. On my release, I did not revisit my 
lodgings for some days, but lived at an hotel. 
I returned late one afternoon, with my ser- 
vant Franci<5ro. p Rasn.i^ f Hernani, who 
e rved me with the utmost fidelity during 
my imprisonment, which he had voluntarily 
Sfiured wtth me. • The Ifrrt person I ntW en 
entering was the Gypsy soldier, seated by 
the tctuio, „ . ore several bottles of 

wine which he had ordered from the tavern,, 
of course on my account. He was smoking, 
and looked savage and sullen; perhaps he 
was not much pleased with the reception he 
had experienced. He had forced himself in, 
and the woman of the house sat in a corner 
looking upon him with dread. I addressed 
him, but he would scarcely return an answer. 
At last he commenced discoursing with great 
volubility in Gypsy and Latin. I did not 
understand much of what he said. His words 
were wild and incoherent, but he repeatedly 
threatened some person. The last bottle was 
now exhausted — he demanded more. I told 
him in a gentle manner that he had drank 
enough. He looked on the ground for some 
time, then slowly, and somewhat hesitatingly, 
drew his sword and laid it on the table. It 
was become dark. I was not afraid of the 
fellow, but I wished to avoid any thing un- 
pleasant. I called to Francisco to bring 
lights, and obeying a sign which I made him, 
he sat down at the table. The gypsy glared 
fiercely upon him — Francisco laughed, and 
began with great glee to talk in Basque, of 
which the Gypsy understood not a word. The 
Basques, like nil Tartars,* and such they are, 
are paragons of fidelity and good nature ; they 
are only dangerous when outraged, when they 

* The Basques speak a Tartar dialed Which strikingly 
resembles the Mongolian and the Mamlchou. 



are terrible indeed. Francisco to the strength 
of a giant joined the disposition of a lamb. 
He was beloved even in the patio of the pri- 
son, where he used to pitch the bar and 
wrestle with the murderers and felons, al- 
ways coming off victor. He continued speak- 
ing Basque. *The Gypsy was incensed ; and, 
forgetting the languages in which, for the 
last hour, he had been speaking, complained 
to Francisco of his rudeness in speaking any 
tongue but Castilian. The Basque replied 
by a loud carcajada, and slightly touched the 
Gypsy on the knee. The latter sprang up 
like a mine discharged, seized his sword, 
and, retreating a few steps, made a despe- 
rate lunge at Francisco. 

The Basques, next to the Pasiegos,* are 
the best cudgel-players in Spain, and in the 
world. Francisco held in his hand part of a 
broomstick, which he had broken in the stable, 
whence he had just ascended. With the 
swiftness of lightning he foiled the stroke of 
Chaleco, and, in another moment, with a 
dexterous blow, struck the sword out of his 
hand, sending it ringing against the wall. 

The Gypsy resumed his seat and his cigar. 
He occasionally looked at the Basque. His 
glances were at first atrocious, but presently 
changed their expression, and appeared to 
me to become prying and eagerly curious. 
He at last arose, picked up his sword, sheathed 
it, and walked slowly to the door, when there 
he stopped, turned round, advanced close to 
Fra'icisco, and looked him steadfastly in the 
face. "My good fellow," said he, "I am a 
Gypsy, and can read baji. Do you know 
where you will be at this time to-morrow P'f 
Then laughing like a hyena, he departed, and 
I never saw him again. 

At that time on the morrow, Francisco was 
on his death-bed. He had caught the jail 
fever, which had long raged in the Carcel de 
la Corte, where I was imprisoned. In a few 
days he was buried, a mass of corruption, in 
the Campo Santo of Madrid. 



CHAPTER V. 

VARIOUS POINTS CONNECTED WITH THE GI- 
TANOS. — DRESS. — PHYSICAL CHARACTER- 
ISTICS. — THE GYPSY GLANCE. — EXTRACTS 
FROM A SPANISH WORK. 

The Gitanos, in their habits and manner 
of life, are much less cleanly than the Spa- 
niards. The hovels in which they reside ex- 

, hibit none of the neatness which is observa- 
ble in the habitations of even the poorest of 

j the other race. The floors are unswept, and 

* A small nation or rather sect of contrabandistas, 
! who Inhabit the valley of Pas amidst the mountains or 
Santandar; they -;irrv long sticks, in the handling of 
which they an: unequalled. Armed with one of these 
sticks, a smuggler of Paa has been known to beat ml" 
. two mounted dragoons. 

t The hostess, .Maria Diaz, and her son Juan Jose 
j Lopez, were present when the outcast uttered these pro- 
I |>hctic wo.ds. 



DRESS. 



75 



abound with filth and mud, and in their per- 
sons they are scarcely less vile. Inattention 
to cleanliness is a characteristic of the Gyp- 
sies, in all parts of the world. 

The Bishop of Forli, as far back as 1422, 
gives evidence upon this point, and insinu- 
ates that they carried the plague with them ; 
as he observes that it raged with peculiar 
violence the year of their appearance at 
Forli* 

At the present day they are almost equally 
disgusting, in this respect, in Hungary, Eng- 
land, and Spain. Amongst the richer Gi- 
tanos, habits of greater cleanliness of course 
exist than amongst the poorer. An air of 
sluttisbness, however, pervades their dwell- 
ings, which, to an experienced eye, would 
sufficiently attest that the inmates were Gi- 
tanos, in the event of their absence. 

What can be said of the Gypsy dress, of 
which such frequent mention is made in the 
Spanish laws, and which is prohibited toge- 
ther with the Gypsy language and manner of 
life) Of whatever it might consist in former 
days, it is so little to be distinguished from 
the dress of some classes amongst the Spa- 
niards, that it is almost impossible to describe 
the difference. They generally wear a high 
peaked, narrow brimmed hat, a zamarra of 
sheepskin in winter, and, during summer, a 
jacket of brown cloth ; and beneath this they 
are fond of exhibiting a red plush waistcoat, 
something after the fashion of the English 
jockeys, with numerous buttons and clasps. 
A faja, or girdle of crimson silk, surrounds 
the waist, where, not unfrequently, are stuck 
the cachas which we have already described. 
Pantaloons of coarse cloth or leather de- 
scend to the knee; the legs are protected 
by woollen stockings, and sometimes by a 
species of spatterdash, either of cloth or 
leather; stout high-lows complete the equip- 
ment. 

Such is the dress of the Gitanos of most 
parts of Spain. But it is necessary to re- 
mark that such also is the dress of the cha- 
ianes, and of the muleteers, except that the 
latter are in the habit of wearing broad som- 
breros as preservatives from the sun. This 
dress appears to be rather Andalusian than 
Gitano ; and yet it certainly beseems the Gi- 
tano better than the chalan or muleteer. He 
wears it with more easy negligence or jaun- 
tiness, by which he may be recognised at 
some distance, even from behind. 

It is still more difficult to say what is the 
peculiar dress of the Gitanas; they wear not 
the large red cloaks and immense bonnets of 
coarse beaver which distinguish their sisters 
of England ; they have no other head gear 
than a handkerchief, which is occasionally 
resorted to as a defence against the severity 
of the weather; their hair is sometimes con- 
fined by a comb, but more frequently is per- 
mitted to stray dishevelled down their shoul- 
ders; they are fond of large ear-rings whe- 
ther of gold, silver, or metal, resembling in 

* Eodem anno precipue fuit pestis sea mortalitas. 
Foriivio. 



this respect the poissardes of France. There 
is little to distinguish them from the Spanish 
women save the absence of the mantilla, 
which they never carry. Females of fashion 
not unfrequently take pleasure in dressing a 
la Gitana, as it is called, but this female 
Gypsy fashion, like that of the men, is more 
properly the fashion of Andalusia, the prin- 
cipal characteristic of which is the saya, 
which is exceedingly short with many rows 
of flounces. 

True it is that the original dress of the 
Gitanos, male and female, whatever it was, 
may have had some share in forming the An- 
dalusian fashion, owing to the great number 
of these wanderers who -found their way to 
that province at an early period. The An- 
dalusians are a mixed breed of various na- 
tions, Romans, Vandals, Moors; perhaps- 
there is a slight sprinkling of Gypsy blood 
in their veins, and of Gypsy fashion in their 
garb. 

The Gitanos are, for the most part, of the 
middle size, and the proportions of their 
frames convey a powerful idea of strength 
and activity united; a deformed or weakly 
object is rarely found amongst them in per- 
sons of either sex ; such probably perish in> 
their infancy, unable to support the hardships 
and privations to which the race is still sub- 
jected from its great poverty, and these same 
privations have given and still give a coarse- 
ness and harshness to their features, which 
are all strongly marked and expressive. 
Their complexion is by no means uniform, 
save that it is invariably darker than the 
general olive hue of the Spaniards ; not un- 
frequently countenances as dark as those of 
Mulattos, present themselves, and in some 
few instances of almost negro blackness. 
Like most people of savage ancestry, their 
teeth are white and strong; their mouths are 
not badly formed, but it is in the eye more 
than in any other feature that they differ from 
other human beings. 

There is something remarkable in the eye 
of the Rommany ; should his hair and com- 
plexion become fair as those of the Swede or 
the Finn, and his jockey gait as grave and 
ceremonious as that of the native of Old Cas- 
tile, were he dressed like a king, a priest, or 
a warrior, still would the Gitano be detected 
by his eye, should it continue unchanged. 
The Jew is known by his eye, but then in the 
Jew that feature is peculiarly small ; the Chi- 
nese has a remarkable eye, but then the eye 
of the Chinese is oblong, and even with the 
face, which is flat ; but the eye of the Gitano 
is neither large nor small, and exhibits no 
marked difference in its shape from eyes of 
the common cast. Its peculiarity consists 
chiefly in a strange staring expression, which 
to be understood must be seen, and in a thin 
glaze, which steals over it when in repose, 
and seems to emit phosphoric light. That 
the Gypsy eye has sometimes a peculiar cf* 
feet, we learn from the following stanza: 

" A Oypsy stripling glossy eye 
Has pierced my bosom's core, 



7G 



THE ZINCALI. 



A feat no eye beneath the sky 
Could e'er effect before." 



The following passages are extracted from 
a Spanish work,* and cannot be out of place 
here, as they relate to those matters to which 
we have devoted this chapter. 

" The Gitanos have an olive complexion : 
and very marked physiognomy ; their cheeks 
are prominent, their lips thick, their eyes j 
vivid and black ; their hair is long, black, and 
coarse, and their teeth very white. The 
general expression of their physiognomy is a 
compound of pride, slavishness, and cunning. 
They are, for the most part, of good stature, 
well formed, and support with facility fatigue 
and every kind of hardship. When they 
discuss any matter, or speak among them- 
selves, whether in Catalan, in Castilian, or 
in Germania, which is their own peculiar jar- 
gon, they always make use of much gesticu- 
lation, which contributes to give to their con- 
versation and to the vivacity of their phy- 
siognomy a certain expression, still more 
penetrating and characteristic. 

" When a Gitano has occasion to speak of 
some business in which his interest is in- 
volved, he redoubles his gestures in propor- 
tion as he knows the necessity of convincing 
those who hear him, and fears their impassi- 
sibility. If any rancorous idea agitate him 
in the course of his narrative ; if he endea- 
vour to infuse into his auditors sentiments of 
jealousy, vengeance, or any violent passion, 
his features become exaggerated, and the 
vivacity of his glances, and the contraction 
of his lips, show clearly, and in an imposing 
manner, the foreign origin of the Gitanos and 
all the customs of barbarous people. Even 
his very smile has an expression hard and 
disagreeable. One might almost say that 
joy in him is a forced sentiment, and that like 
unto the savage man, sadness is the dominant 
feature of his physiognomy. 

" The Gitana is distinguished by the same 
complexion, and almost the same features. 
In her frame she is as well formed, and as 
flexible as the Gitano. Condemned to suffer 
the same privations and wants, her counte- 
nance, when her interest does not oblige her 
to dissemble her feelings, presents the same 
aspect of melancholy, and shows, besides, 
with more energy, the rancorous passions of 
which the female heart is susceptible. Free 
in her actions, her carriage, and her pursuits, 



*This work is styled Historia de los GitAnos, by J. 
M , published at Darcelona in the year 1832; it con- 
sists of 93 very small and scantily furnished pages. Its 
chief, we might say its only merit, is the style, Which is 
tlncnt and easy. The writer is a theorist, and sacrifices 
truth and probability to the shrine of one idea, and that 
one of the most absurd that ever entered the head of an 
individual. He endeavours to persuade his readers that 
the GitAnos are the descendants of the Moors, and the 
greatest part of his work is a history of those Africans, 
from the time of their arrival In the Peninsula till their 
expatriation by Philip the Third. The GitAnos be sup- 
poses to be various tribes of wandering Moors, who baf- 
lled pursuit amidst the fastnesses of hills; be denies that 
they are of the same rare and origin as the Gypsies, Bo- 
hemians, <&c, of other lands, though he affords no proof, 
anil is confessedly ignorant of the GilAno language, the 
only criterion. 

To this work we shall revert on a future occasion. 



she speaks, vociferates, and makes more ges- 
tures than the Gitano, and, in imitation of 
him, her arms are in continual motion, to give 
more expression to the imagery with which 
she accompanies her discourse ; her whole 
body contributes to her gesture, and to in- 
crease its force; endeavouring by these means 
to sharpen the effect of language in itself in- 
sufficient; and her vivid and disordered ima- 
gination is displayed in her appearance and 
attitude. 

" When she turns her hand to any species 
of labour, her hurried action, the disorder of 
her hair, which is scarcely subjected by a lit- 
tle comb, and her propensity to irritation, 
show how little she loves toil, and her dis- 
gust for any continued occupation. 

"In her disputes, the air of menace and 
high passion, the flow of words, and the fa- 
cility with which she provokes and despises 
danger, indicate manners half barbarous, and 
ignorance of other means of defence. Fi- 
nally, both in males and females, their phy- 
sical constitution, colour, agility, and flexi- 
bility, reveal to us a caste sprung from a 
burning clime, and devoted to all those ex- 
ercises which contribute to evolve bodily 
vigour, and certain mental faculties. 

"The dress of the Gitano varies with the 
country he inhabits. Both in Rousillon and 
Catalonia, his habiliments generally consist 
of jacket, waistcoat, pantaloons, and a red 
faja which covers part of his waistcoat; on 
his feet he wears hempen sandals, with much 
ribbon tied round the leg as high as the calf; 
he has, moreover, either woollen or cotton 
stockings; round his neck he wears a hand- 
kerchief, carelessly tied ; and in the winter 
he uses a blanket or mantle with sleeves, 
cast over the shoulder ; his head is covered 
with the indispensable red cap, which ap- 
pears to be the favourite ornament of many 
nations in the vicinity of the Mediterranean 
and Caspian Sea. 

"The neck and the elbows of the jacket 
are adorned with pieces of blue and yellow 
cloth embroidered with silk, as well as the 
seams of the pantaloons ; he wears, moreo- 
ver, on the jacket or the waistcoat, various 
rows of silver buttons, small and round, sus- 
tained by rings or chains of the same metal. 
The old people, and those who by fortune, or 
some other cause, exercise, in appearance, 
a kind of authority over the rest, are almost 
always dressed in black or dark blue velvet. 
Some of those who affect elegance amongst 
them, keep for holidays a complete dress of 
sky-blue velvet, with embroidery at the neck, 
pocket-holes, armpits, and in all the seams ; 
in a word, with the exception of the turban, 
this was the fashion of dress of the ancient 
Moors of Granada, the only difference being 
occasioned by time and misery." 

"The drc^s of the Gitanas is very varied: 
' the young girls, or those who are in tolerably 
; easy circumstances, generally wear a black 
bodice laced up with a string, and adjusted 
to their figure, and contrasting with the scar- 
let-coloured saya, which only covers a part 



GYPSY PRACTICES. — THE BAHI. 



77 



of the leg ; their shoes are cut very low, and 
are adorned with little buckles of silver; the 
breast, and the upper part of the bodice, are 
covered either with a white handkerchief, or 
one of some vivid colour; and on the head is 
worn another handkerchief, tied beneath the 
chin, one of the ends of which falls on the 
shoulder, in the manner of a hood. When 
the cold or the heat permit, the Gitana re- 
moves the hood, without untying the knots, 
and exhibits her long and shining tresses re- 
strained by a comb. The old women, and 
the very poor, dress in the same manner, 
save that their habiliments are more coarse, 
the colours less in harmony, and more disor- 
der in their array. Amongst them misery 
appears beneath the most revolting aspect : 
whilst the poorest Gitano preserves a certain 
deportment which would make his aspect 
supportable, if his unquiet and ferocious 
glance did not inspire us with aversion." 



CHAPTER VI. 



CERTAIN TRICKS AND PRACTICES OF THE 

GYPSY FEMALES. — THE BAHI. HOKKANO 

BARO. — USTILAR PASTESAS. SHOP-LIFT- 

I ING . — DRAO. — THE LOADSTONE. — THE 
ROOT OF THE GOOD BARON. 

Whilst their husbands are engaged in 
their jockey vocation, or in wielding the ca- 
chas, the Callees, or Gypsy females, are sel- 
dom idle, but are endeavouring, by various 
means, to win all the money they can. The 
richest amongst them are generally contra- 
bandistas, and in the large towns go from 
house to house with prohibited goods, espe- 
cially silk and cotton, and occasionally with 
tobacco. They likewise purchase cast off fe- 
male wearing apparel, which, when vamped 
up and embellished, they sometimes contrive 
to sell as new, with no inconsiderable profit. 

Gitanas of this description are of the most 
respectable class ; the rest, provided they do 
not sell roasted chestnuts, or esteras, which 
are a species of mat, seek a livelihood by dif- 
ferent tricks and practices, more or less fraud- 
ulent, for example : — 

La Bahi, or fortune-telling, which is called 
in Spanish buena ventura. — This way of ex- 
tracting money from the credulity of dupes, 
is, of all those practised by the Gypsies, the 
readiest and most easy; promises are the 
only capital requisite, and the whole art of 
fortune-telling consists in properly adapting 
these promises to the age and condition of 
the parties who seek for information. The 
Gitanas are clever enough in the accomplish- 
ment of this, and in most cases afford per- 
fect satisfaction. Their practice chiefly lies 
amongst females, the portion of the human 
race most given to curiosity and credulity. 
To the young maidens they promise lovers, 
11 



handsome invariably, and sometimes rich ; to 
wives children, and perhaps another husband; 
for their eyes are so penetrating, that occa- 
sionally they will develop your most secret 
thoughts and wishes; to the old, riches — and 
nothing but riches; for they have sufficient 
knowledge of the human heart to be aware 
that avarice is the last passion that becomes 
extinct within it. These riches are to pro- 
ceed either from the discovery of hidden trea- 
sures, or from across the water; from the 
Americas, to which the Spaniards still look 
with hope, as there is no individual in Spain, 
however poor, but has some connexion in 
those realms of silver and gold, at whose 
death he considers it probable that he may 
succeed to a brilliant "herencia." The Gi- 
tanas, in the exercise of this practice, find 
dupes almost as readily amongst the superior 
classes, as the veriest dregs of the popula- 
tion. It is their boast, that the best houses 
are open to them ; and perhaps in the space 
of one hour, they will spae the bahi to a 
duchess, or countess, in one of the hundred 
palaces of Madrid ; and to half a dozen of the 
lavanderas engaged in purifying the linen of 
the capital, beneath the willows which droop 
on the banks of the murmuring Manzanares. 
One great advantage which the Gypsies pos- 
sess over all other people, is an utter absence 
of mauvaise honte; their speech is as fluent, 
and their eyes as unabashed, in the presence 
of royalty, as before those from whom they 
have nothing to hope or fear; the result be- 
ing, that most minds quail before them, and 
they play with what would be fatal to others. 
There were two Gitanas at Madrid, and pro- 
bably they are there still. The name of one 
was Pepita, and the other was called La Chi- 
charona ; the first was a spare, shrewd, witch- 
like female, about fifty, and was the mother- 
in-law of La Chicharona, who was remarkable 
for her stoutness. These women subsisted 
entirely by fortune-telling and swindling. It 
chanced that the son of Pepita, and husband 
of Chicharona, having spirited away a horse, 
was sent to the presidio of Malaga for ten 
years of hard labour. This misfortune caused 
inexpressible affliction to his wife and mo- 
ther, who determined to exert every effort to 
procure his liberation. The readiest way 
which occurred to them, was to procure an 
interview with the Queen Regent Christina, 
whom they doubted not would forthwith par- 
don the culprit, provided they had an oppor- 
tunity of assailing her with their Gypsy dis- 
course : for, to use their own words, " they 
well knew what to say." I at that time lived 
close by the palace, in the street of Santiago, 
and daily, for the space of a month, saw them 
bending their steps in that direction. 

One day, they came to me in a great hurry, 
with a strange expression on both their coun- 
tenances. " We have seen Christina, hijo," 
(my son,) said Pepita to me. 

"Within the palace?" I inquired. 

" Within the palace, O child of my gar- 
lochin," answered the sibyl: "Christina at 
last saw and sent for us, as I knew she would ; 
II 



78 



THE ZINC ALL 



I told her 'Bahi,' and Chicharona danced the 
Romalis (Gypsy dance) before her." 

"What did you tell her?" 

11 1 told her many things," said the hag, 
" many things which I need not tell you : 
know, however, that amongst other things, I 
told her that the chabori (little queen) would 
die, and then she would be Queen of Spain. 
I told her, moreover, that within three years 
she would marry the son of the King of 
France, and it was her bahi to die Queen of 
France and Spain, and to be loved much, and 
hated much." 

" And did you not dread her anger, when 
you told her these things]" 

"Dread her, the Busnee! " screamed Pe- 
pita: "No, my child, she dreaded me far 
more: I looked at her so — and raised my finger 
so — and Chicharona clapped her hands, and 
the Busnee believed all I said, and was afraid 
of me: and then I asked for the pardon of my 
son, and she pledged her word to see into 
the matter, and when we came away, she 
gave me this baria of gold, and to Chicharona 
this other, so at all events we have hokkanoed 
the queen. May an evil end overtake her 
body, the Busnee?-" 

Though some of the Gitanos contrive to 
subsist by fortune-telling alone, the generality 
of them merely make use of it as an instru- 
ment towards the accomplishment of greater 
things, the immediate gains are scanty; 
a few cuartos being the utmost which they 
receive from the majority of their customers. 
But the bahi is an excellent passport into 
houses, and when they spy a convenient op- 
portunity they seldom fail to avail themselves 
of it. It is necessary to watch them strictly, 
as articles frequently disappear in a myste- 
rious manner, whilst Gitanos are telling for- 
tunes. The bahi, moreover, is occasionally 
the prelude to a device which we shall now 
attempt to describe, and which is called 
Hokkano Baro, or the great trick, of which 
we have already said something in the former 
part of this work. When the Gitana has 
met some credulous female, whom she sus- 
pects to be wealthy, she will address her in 
much the way as she of yore is represented 
to have addressed the widow, in the History 
of Alonso; telling her that she will disclose 
to her a way by means of which both may 
make their fortunes. It is neither more nor 
less than, at a certain hour and place, to de- 
posit a sum of money, the more the better; 
as the Gitana says, that if not looked at until 
a certain time, it will increase a thousand 
fold. Some of our readers will have difficulty 
in believing that any people can be found 
sufficiently credulous to allow themselves to 
be duped by a trick of this description, the 
grossness of the intended fraud seeming too 
palpable. Experience, however, proves the 
contrary. The deception is frequently prac- 
tised at the present day, and not only in Spain 
but in England — enlightened England — and 
in France likewise; an instance being given 
in the memoirs of Vidocq, the late celebrated 
head of the secret police of Paris, though, in 



that instance, the perpetrator of the fraud was 
not a Gypsy. The most subtle method of 
accomplishing the hokkano baro is the fol- 
lowing: — 

When the dupe has been induced to con- 
sent to make the experiment, the Gitana de- 
mands of her whether she has in the house 
some strong chest, with a safe lock and key. 
On receiving an affirmative answer, she will 
request to see all the gold and silver, of any 
description, which she may chance to have in 
her possession. The money is shown her; 
and when the Gitana has carefully inspected 
and counted it, she produces a white hand- 
kerchief, saying: "Lady, I give you this 
handkerchief which is blessed. It is now ne- 
cessary that you place in it your gold and 
silver, tying it with three knots. I will then 
depart for three days, when I will return. In 
the mean time you must keep the bundle, 
which contains your treasure, beneath your 
pillow, permitting no one to go near it, and 
observing the greatest secrecy, otherwise the 
money will take wings and fly away. Every 
morning during the three days it will be well 
to open the bundle, for your own satisfac- 
tion, to see that no misfortune has befallen 
your treasure; be always careful, however, 
to fasten it again with three knots. On my 
return, we will place the bundle, after having 
inspected it, in the chest, which you shall 
yourself lock, retaining the key in your pos- 
session. But, thenceforward, for three weeks, 
you must by no means unlock the chest, nor 
touch the treasure, but pray night and morning 
to San Antonio that it be multiplied, other- 
wise it will fly away." 

The Gitana departs, and, during the three 
days, prepares a bundle as similar as possible 
to the one which contains the money of her 
dupe, save that instead of gold ounces, dol- 
lars, and plate, its contents consist of copper 
money and pewter articles of little or no 
value. With this bundle concealed beneath 
her cloak, she returns at the end of three 
days to her intended victim. The bundle of 
real treasure is produced and inspected, and 
again tied up by the Gitana, who then re- 
quests the other to open the chest, which 
done, she formally places a bundle in it; but, 
in the meanwhile, she has contrived to sub- 
stitute the fictitious for the real one. The 
chest is then locked, the lady retaining the 
key. The Gitana promises to return at the 
end of three weeks, to open the chest, as- 
suring the lady that if it be not unlocked till 
that period, it will be found filled with gold 
and silver; but threatening that, in the event 
of her injunctions being disregarded, the 
money deposited will vanish. She then walks 
off" with great deliberation, bearing away the 
spoil. It is needless to say that she never re- 
turns. 

There are other ways of accomplishing the 
hokkano baro. The most simple, and indeed 
the most generally used by the Gitanas, is to 
persuade some simple individual to hide a sum 
of money in the earth, which they afterwards 
carry away. A case of this description oc- 



GYPSY PRACTICES. — USTILAR PASTESAS. 



79 



curred within my own knowledge, at Madrid, 
towards the latter part of the year 1837. 
There was a notorious Gitana, of the name 
of Aurora ; she was about forty years of age, 
a Valencian by birth, and immensely fat. 
This amiable personage, by some means, 
formed the acquaintance of a wealthy widow 
lady ; and was not slow in attempting to prac- 
tise the hokkano baro upon her. She suc- 
ceeded but too well. The widow, at the in- 
stigation of Aurora, buried one hundred ounces 
of gold, beneath a ruined arch in the field, at 
a short distance from the wall of Madrid. 
The inhumation was effected at night by the 
widow alone. Aurora was however on the 
watch, and, in less than ten minutes after the 
widow had departed, possessed herself of the 
treasure ; perhaps the largest one ever ac- 
quired by this kind of deceit. The next day 
the widow had certain misgivings, and, re- 
turning to the spot, found her money gone. 
About six months after this event, I was im- 
prisoned in the Carcel de la Corte, at Madrid, 
and there I found Aurora, who was in durance 
for defrauding the widow. She said that it 
had been her intention to depart for Valencia 
with the "barias," as she styled her plunder, 
but the widow had discovered the trick too 
soon, and she had been arrested. She added, 
however, that she had contrived to conceal 
the greatest part of the property, and that she 
expected her liberation in a few days, having 
been prodigal of bribes to the " justicia." In 
effect, her liberation took place sooner than 
my own. Nevertheless, she had little cause 
to triumph, as before she left the prison she 
had been fleeced of the last cuarto of her ill- 
gotten gain, by alguazils and escribanos, who, 
she admitted, understood hokkano baro much 
better than herself. 

When I next saw Aurora, she informed 
me that she was once more on. excellent 
terms with the widow, whom she had per- 
suaded that the loss of the money was caused 
by her own imprudence, in looking for it be- 
fore the appointed time; the spirit of the 
earth having removed it in anger. She added 
that her dupe was quite disposed to make 
another venture, by which she hoped to re- 
trieve her'ormer loss. 

Ustilar pastesas. — Under this head may be 
placed various kinds of theft committed by 
the Gitanas. The meaning of the words is 
stealing with the hands ; but they are more 
generally applied to the filching of money by 
dexterity of hand, when giving or receiving 
change. For example : a Gitana will enter 
a shop, and purchase some insignificant ar- 
ticle, tendering in payment a baria or golden 
ounce. The change being put down before 
her on the counter, she counts the money, 
and complains that she has received a dollar 
and several pesetas less than her due. It 
seems impossible that there can be any fraud 
on her part, as she has not even taken the 
money in her hand, but merely placed her 
fingers upon it; pushing it on one side. She 
now asks the merchant what he means by at- 
tempting to deceive the poor woman. The 



merchant, supposing that he has made a mis- 
take, takes up the money, counts it, and 
finds in effect that the just sum is not there. 
He again hands out the change, but there is 
now a greater deficit than before, and the 
merchant is convinced that he is dealing with 
a witch. The Gitana now pushes the money 
to him, uplifts her voice, and talks of the jus- 
ticia. Should the merchant become fright- 
ened, and, emptying a bag of dollars, tell her 
to pay herself, as has sometimes been the 
case, her utmost hopes will be gratified, as 
she will contrive, by means which baffle the 
possibility of detection, to convey at least 
five or six dollars into her sleeves, when she 
will depart with much vociferation, declaring 
that she will never again enter the shop of 
so cheating a picaro. 

Of all the Gitanas at Madrid, Aurora the 
fat was, by their own confession, the most 
dexterous at this species of robbery; she 
having been known, in many instances, whilst 
receiving change for an ounce to steal the 
whole value, which amounts to sixteen dol- 
lars. It was not without reason that, mer- 
chants in ancient times were, according to 
Martin del Rio, advised to sell nothing out of 
their shops to Gitanas, as they possessed an 
infallible secret for attracting to their own 
purses from the coffers of the former the 
money with which they paid for the articles 
they purchased. This secret consisted in 
stealing a pastesas, which they still practise, 
Many accounts of witchcraft and sorcery, 
which are styled old women's tales, are per- 
haps equally well founded. Real actions have 
been attributed to wrong causes — thus the 
seeming absurdity. 

Shop-lifting, and other kinds of private lar. 
ceny, are connected with stealing a pastesas, 
for in all dexterity of hand is required. Many 
of the Gitanas of Madrid are provided with 
large pockets, or rather sacks, beneath their 
gowns, in which they stow away their plun- 
der. Some of these pockets are capacious 
enough to hold, at one time, a dozen yards 
of cloth, a Dutch cheese, and a bottle of wine. 
Nothing that she can eat, drink, or sell, 
comes amiss to a veritable Gitana ; and some- 
times the contents of her pocket would afford 
materials for an inventory far more lengthy 
and curious than the one enumerating the 
effects found on the person of the man moun- 
tain at Lilliput. 

Drao or Drow. — By this word is meant 
the venomous preparation which the Gitanos 
were in the habit of flinging into the mangers 
of the cattle, for the purpose of causing sick- 
ness and death. I say, were, as there is rea- 
son for believing that the practice has ceased, 
at least to a very considerable extent. Few 
know how to prepare it, though all speak of 
the practice as common amongst their fore- 
fathers ; it is said, that it was the province of 
the women to compound the ingredients of 
the drao, which answered many purposes, all 
unlawful ; the stalls and stables were visited 
secretly, and the provender of the animals 
poisoned, who at once fell sick; speedily ap. 



80 



THE ZINC ALL 



peared the Gitanos, offering their services to 
the labourers, on the condition of no cure no 
pay, and, when these were accepted, the 
malady was speedily removed. 

The manner in which they pretended to 
effect the cure was curious; they used no 
medicines, only charms, which consisted of 
small variegated beans, called in their lan- 
guage " bobis,"* dropped in the mangers, 
though they doubtless administered privately 
a real and efficacious remedy. By this means 
they fostered the idea, already prevalent, that 
they were people possessed of supernatural 
gifts and powers, who could remove diseases 
without, having recourse to medicine. By 
means of drao, they likewise procured them- 
selves food; poisoning swine, as their bre- 
thren in England still do, and then feasting 
on the flesh, which was abandoned as worth- 
less: witness one of their own songs: 

" By Gypsy drovv the porker died, 
I saw him stiff at evening tide, 
But I saw him not when morning shone. 
For the Gypsies ate him flesh and bone." 

By drao also they could avenge themselves 
on their enemies by destroying their cattle, 
without incurring a shadow of suspicion. 
Revenge for injuries, real or imaginary, is 
sweet to all unconverted minds ; to no one 
more than the Gypsy, who, in all parts of the 
world, is, perhaps, the most revengeful of hu- 
man beings. 

Vidocq in his memoirs states, that having 
formed a connexion with an individual whom 
he subsequently discovered to be the captain 
of a band of Walachian Gypsies, the latter, 
whose name was Caroun, wished Vidocq to 
assist in scattering certain powders in the 
mangers of the peasants' cattle; Vidocq, from 
prudential motives, refused the employment. 
There can be no doubt that these powders 
were, in substance, the drao of the Spanish 
Gitanos. 

La Bar Lachi, or the Loadstone. — If the 
Gitanos in general be addicted to any one 
superstition, it is certainly with respect to 
this stone, to which they attribute all kinds 
of miraculous powers. There can be no 
doubt, that the singular property which it 
possesses of attracting steel, by rilling their 
untutored minds with amazement, first gave 
rise to this veneration, which is carried be- 
yond all reasonable bounds. 

They believe that he who is in possession 
of it has nothing to fear from steel or lead, 
from fire or water, and that death itself has 
no power over him. The Gypsy contraban- 
distas are particularly anxious to procure 
this stone, which they carry upon their per- 
sons in their expeditions; they say, that in 
the event of being pursued by the jaracanallis, 
or revenue officers, whirlwinds of dust will 
arise and conceal them from the view of their 
enemies; the horse-stealers say much the 
same thing, and assert that they arc uniform- 
ly successful, when they bear about them the 

* A Russian word signifying beans. 



precious stone. But it can effect much more. 
Extraordinary things are said of its power in 
exciting the amorous passions, and, on this 
account, it is in great request among the 
Gypsy hags; all these women are procuresses, 
and find persons of both sexes weak and 
wicked enough to make use of their pretend- 
ed knowledge in the composition of love 
draughts and decoctions. In the case of the 
loadstone, however, there is no pretence, 
the Gitanas believing all they say respecting 
it, and still more ; this is proved by the eager- 
ness with which they seek to obtain the stone 
in its natural state, which is somewhat diffi- 
cult to accomplish. 

In the museum of natural curiosities at 
Madrid, there is a large piece of loadstone 
originally extracted from the American mines. 
There is scarcely a Gitana in Madrid who is 
not acquainted with this circumstance, and 
who does not long to obtain the stone, or a 
part of it; its being placed in a royal muse- 
um, serving to augment, in their opinion, its 
real value. Several attempts have been made 
to steal it, all of which, however, have been 
unsuccessful. The Gypsies seem not to be 
the only people who envy royalty the posses- 
sion of this stone. Pepita, the old Gitana, 
of whose talent at telling fortunes such ho- 
nourable mention has already been made, in- 
formed me that a priest, who was muy ena- 
morado (in love) proposed to her to steal the 
loadstone, offering her all his sacerdotal gar- 
ments in the event of success; whether the 
singular reward that was promised had but 
slight temptations for her, or whether she 
feared that her dexterity was not equal to the 
accomplishment of the task, we know not, 
but she appears to have declined attempting 
it. According to the Gypsy account, the 
person in love, if he wish to excite a corre- 
sponding passion in another quarter by means 
of the loadstone, must swallow, in aguardi- 
ente, a small portion of the stone pulverized, 
at the time of going to rest, repeating to him- 
self the following magic rhyme: 

" To the Mountain of Olives one morning I hied 
Three little black goats before me I spied. 
Those three little goats on three cars i laid, 
Black cheeses three from their milk I made; 
The one I bestow on the loaditone of power, 
That save me it may from all ills that lowerj 
The second to Mary Padilla I give, 
And to all the witch lia^s about her that live; 
The third I reserve for Asmedeus lame, 
That fetch me he may whatever I name." 

La raiz del buen Baron, or the root of the 
good Baron. — On this subject we cannot be 
very explicit. It is customary with the Gi- 
tanas to sell, under this title, various roots 
and herbs, to unfortunate females who are 
desirous of producing a certain result; these 
roots are boiled in white wine, and the abo- 
minable decoction is taken fasting. I was 
once shown the root of the good baron, 
which, in this instance, appeared to be pars- 
ley root. By the good baron is meant his 
Satanic majesty, on whom the root is very 
appropriately fathered. 



DON ALVARO. 



81 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE LACHA OF THE GITANAS. — THE DICLE. 

GYPSY BETROTHMENTS. — DON ALVARO. — 
THE SCRUTINY. — THE MARRIAGE FESTI- 
VAL. — EASTERN JEWS — THEIR WEDDINGS. 
THE GITANA OF CORDOVA. — THE ITA- 
LIAN AND THE GYPSY. 

It is impossible to dismiss the subject of 
the Spanish Gypsies, without offering some 
remarks on their marriage festivals. There 
is nothing which they retain connected with 
their primitive rites and principles, more cha- 
racteristic perhaps of the sect of the Rom- 
many, of the sect of the husbands and wives, 
than all which relates to the marriage cere- 
mony, which gives the female a protector, 
and the man a helpmate, a sharer of his joys 
and sorrows. The Gypsies are almost en- 
tirely ignorant of the grand points of morali- 
ty; they have never had sufficient sense to 
perceive that to lie, to steal, and to shed hu- 
man blood violently, are crimes which are 
sure, eventually, to yield bitter fruits to those 
who perpetrate them ; but on one point, and 
that one of no little importance as far as tem- 
poral happiness is concerned, they are in 
general wiser than those who have had far 
better opportunities than such unfortunate 
outcasts, of regulating their steps, and dis- 
tinguishing good from evil. They know that 
chastity is a jewel of high price, and that 
conjugal fidelity is capable of occasionally 
flinging a sunshine even over the dreary 
hours of a life passed in the contempt of al- 
most all laws, whether human or divine. 

There is a word in the Gypsy language to 
which those who speak it attach ideas of pe- 
culiar reverence, far superior to that con- 
nected with the name of the Supreme Being, 
the creator of themselves and the universe. 
This word is Ldcha, which with them is the 
corporeal chastity of the females ; we say 
corporeal chastity, for no other do they hold 
in the slightest esteem ; it is lawful amongst 
them, nay praiseworthy, to be obscene in 
look, gesture, and discourse, to be accessa- 
ries to vice, and to stand by and laugh at the 
worst abominations of the Busne, provided 
their Ldcha ye trnpos, or corporeal chastity, 
remains unblemished. The Gypsy child, from 
her earliest years, is told by her strange mo- 
ther, that a good Calli need only dread one 
thing in this world, and that is the loss of 
Lacha, in comparison with which that of life 
is of little consequence, as in such an event 
she will be provided for, but what provision 
is there for a Gypsy who has lost her Lacha'? 
"Bear this in mind, my child," she will say, 
"and now eat this bread, and go forth and 
see what you can steal." She is, however, 
by no means content with advice and exhor- 
tation. She has recourse to other means for 
securing her daughter's Lacha. There is 
another word in the Gypsy language, Diclc, 
and this word is closely connected with La- 
cha, indeed is inseparable from it in unmar- 
ried females ; for to lose their Dicle is tanta- 



mount to losing Lacha. Reasons which may 
easily be judged, render it impossible for us 
to be very explicit on this point; it will be 
permitted to us, however, to state, that no 
females in the world wear their interior dra- 
pery in the same manner as the Gitanas : and 
this drapery or Diclc of the female children 
is invariably fastened by their mothers after 
a peculiar and singular fashion, and is never 
removed, but continually inspected by the 
latter until the day previous to her marriage. 
The Dicle, therefore, is the seal of the Lacha. 
A Gypsy girl is generally betrothed at the 
age of fourteen to the youth whom her pa- 
rents deem a suitable match, and who is ge- 
nerally a few years older than herself. Mar- 
riage is invariably preceded by betrothment; 
and the couple must then wait two years be- 
fore their union can take place, according to 
the law of the Cales. During this period 
it is expected that they treat each other as 
common acquaintance ; they are permitted to 
converse, and even occasionally to exchange 
slight presents. One thing, however, is 
strictly forbidden, and if in this instance they 
prove contumacious, the betrothment is in- 
stantly broken and the pair are never united, 
and thenceforward bear an evil reputation 
amongst their sect. This one thing, is going 
into the campo in each other's company, or 
having any rendezvous beyond the gate of 
the city, town, or village, in which they dwell. 
Upon this point we can perhaps do no better 
than quote one of their own stanzas : — 

" Thy sire and mother wrath and hate 
Have vowed against us, love ! 
The first, first night that from the gate 
We two together rove." 

With all the other Gypsies, however, and 
with the Busne or Gentiles, the betrothed fe- 
male is allowed the freest intercourse, going 
whither she will, and returning at all times 
and seasons. With respect to the Busne, 
indeed, the parents are invariably less cau- 
tious than with their own race, as they con- 
ceive it next to an impossibility that their child 
should lose her Lacha by any intercourse with 
the white blood; and true it is that experience 
has proved that their confidence in this re- 
spect is not. altogether idle. The Gitanas 
have in general a decided aversion to the 
white men ; some few instances, however, 
to the contrary are said to have occurred, 
and by far the most remarkable is the fol- 
lowing one : — 

At the beginning of the present century 
there resided near Ciudad Real, in la Mancha, 
a certain Don Alvaro Murioz, a celebrated 
"ganadero" or proprietor of cattle; and 
from his dehesas, and those of his ancestors 
for more than one hundred years, had pro- 
ceeded the fiercest and most terrible bulls, 
animals which the bravest toreros of Madrid 
and Seville never encountered in the circus 
without trembling and fear. This cavalier, 
at the time we arc speaking of, was about 
two and twenty, handsome of feature, noble 
of carriage, the best jinete in all La Mancha, 
and invariably possessed of the best hordes, 
u 2 



82 



THE ZIN€ALI. 



for he was passionately fond of good steeds, 
His generosity and frankness were proverbial, 
so that no gentleman ever expressed an ad- 
miration for any thing which he possessed 
but he instantly presented it to him, and this 
not in mere compliment, without wishing or 
expecting the gift to be received, as is but 
too customary in Spain, but from overflowing 
generosity and bounty of heart. There was 
one steed which he particularly cherished, 
the finest horse in Spain, a genuine Cordo- 
vese by the four sides, for which he had 
paid twenty thousand reals. Tt chanced one 
day whilst his steed was standing splendidly 
caparisoned in the court yard, that a cavalier 
passed by the cortijo of Don Alvaro Munoz, 
and stopped to survey the horse. An excla- 
mation expressive of admiration of the splen- 
did animal escaped him. Don Alvaro heard 
him, and when the cavalier had passed by on 
his way, he despatched a servant after him 
with the horse, which he requested him to 
accept. The cavalier astonished, returned, 
and inquired the reason of so extraordinary 
and splendid an offer to an unknown indivi- 
dual. Don Alvaro's answer was the follow- 
ing. "No gentleman shall ever admire any 
ihing which I possess without having it in- 
stantly placed at his disposal," and warmly 
pressed the stranger to receive the animal. 
But the latter, who was a person of noble 
birth, begged leave to refuse the offer, and 
passed on his way, which was to Madrid. 

At this time there were several Gypsy fa- 
milies residing in the town of Ciudad Real. 
As they were people of very evil character, 
and were much looked after by the authorities, 
they experienced considerable obstacles in 
carrying on their Gypsy traffick. They were 
in need of some powerful protector; and, 
knowing that Don Alvaro enjoyed great au- 
thority in the neighbourhood, they endea 
voured, by every artifice in their power, to 
secure his good graces, and soon succeeded, 
by the knowledge which they displayed in 
curing the diseases to which horses are sub- 
ject, and by improving the beauty of the fa- 
vourite steeds of Don Alvaro. 

"But he was chiefly induced to favour 
them from the extraordinary impression which 
he had received from the beauty of a young 
girl, the daughter of one of the principal 
Gypsies. This girl, who was called Maria, 
was in her sixteenth year, and had been be- 
trothed for a considerable time to one Sim- 
profie, a Gypsy, whose parents were consi- 
dered rich. He was the ugliest fellow of his 
caste, not only in La Mancha, but in all 
Spain. He was tuerto or one-eyed, and was, 
moreover, manco, or maimed ; his left hand 
having been bit off in an encounter with one 
of the bulls of Don Alvaro. When the Gyp- 
sies saw how enamoured the cavalier was of 
the eyes of Maria, they persuaded her to 
use all her influence with him for their benefit ; 
and, indeed, in a short time, through her 
means, the Gypsies enjoyed many privileges 
in the neighbourhood of Ciudad Real, so that 
many came from afar and settled there, in 



order to share in the good fortune of their 
brethren. 

But the parents of Maria never dreamt of 
a possible contingency. They would not 
permit her to pass the gate of the town with 
the ugly Simprofie,but encouraged her every 
day to visit alone the cortijo of the gallant 
Don Alvaro, in order that she might request 
something farther for their advantage. One 
morning, however, shortly before she was to 
have been married to Simprofie, there was 
a terrible uproar in Ciudad Real amongst 
the Gypsies, and the mother of Maria ran 
through the town with dishevelled hair, 
screaming, " El Bengue hanicobado la lacha 
de min chai." 

From that moment, no one knew what be- 
came of Maria; but she is said to have been 
carried behind the stony mountains which 
skirt the pass of Lapice, and to have there 
perished a victim beneath the cachas of her 
friends and relations. The Gypsies did not 
long enjoy the protection of Don Alvaro; 
for the disappearance of Maria changed 
the favour which he formerly displayed to 
them into bitter hate and direst persecu- 
tion. He drove them from Ciudad Real, 
after having killed the maimed and one- 
eyed Simprofie with his own hand; and, 
not content with this, hunted them up and 
down, and, at length, succeeded in driving 
them through the pass which leads into An- 
dalusia. From that time there have been 
tew or no Gypsies seen in La Mancha, and 
especially at Ciudad Real. 

A short time previous to the expiration of 
the term of the betrothment, preparations 
are made for the Gypsy bridal. The wedding 
day is certairaly an eventful period in the life 
of every individual, as he takes a partner for 
better or for worse, whom he is bound to 
cherish through riches and poverty; but to 
the Gypsy particularly the wedding festival 
is an important affair. If he is rich, he fre- 
quently becomes poor, before it is terminated ; 
and if he is poor, he loses the little which 
he possesses, and must borrow of his bre- 
thren ; frequently involving himself through- 
out life, to procure the means of giving a 
festival ; for without a festival, he could not 
become a Rom, that is a husband, and would 
cease to belong to the sect of Rommany. 
But, before the festival begins, a singular 
scrutiny is performed, the subject of which 
is the betrothed girl ; and here again we can- 
not be very explicit. . . . 

This scrutiny is connected with the dicle 
and the lacha of the girl; and, to ascertain 
the point in question, four matrons are ap- 
pointed, relations of the contracted parties — 
two on the part of the bridegroom, two on 
the part of the bride. A rigorous examina- 
tion ensues, in which a handkerchief of finest 
French cambric takes a leading part. Should 
the bride be pronounced blameless by these 
female inquisitors, the bridal takes place 
the next day; but should they discover that 
she has proved frail, the chances are that 
she will be made away with privately, and 



MARRIAGE FESTIVAL. 



83 



in a manner which will leave no trace be- 
hind. 

There is a great deal of what is wild and 
barbarous attached to these festivals. I shall 
never forget a particular one at which I was 
present. After much feasting, drinking and 
yelling, in the Gypsy house, the bridal train 
sallied forth — a frantic spectacle. First of 
all marched a villanous jockey-looking fellow, 
holding in his hands, uplifted, a long pole, at 
the top of which fluttered in the morning 
air — what? the mysterious dicle, and yet 
more mysterious handkerchief of cambric — 
the latter unspotted — for, otherwise, there 
would have been no bridal, and the betrothed 
girl would perhaps ere then have been a 
corse. Then came the betrothed pair, fol- 
lowed by their nearest friends ; then a rabble 
rout of Gypsies, screaming and shouting, and 
discharging guns and pistols, till all around 
rang with the din, and the village dogs barked. 
On arriving at the church gate, the fellow 
who bore the pole stuck it into the ground 
with a loud huzza, and the train, forming two 
ranks, defiled into the church on either side 
of the pole and its strange ornaments. On the 
conclusion of the ceremony, they returned in 
the same manner in which they had come. 

Throughout the day there was nothing 
going on but singing, drinking, feasting, and 
dancing; but the most singular part of the 
festival was reserved for the dark night. 
Nearly a ton weight of sweetmeats had been 
prepared, at an enormous expense — not for 
the gratification of the palate, but for a pur- 
pose purely Gypsy. These sweetmeats of 
all kinds, and of all forms, but principally 
yemans, or yolks of eggs prepared with a 
crust of sugar, (a delicious bonne bouche,) 
were strewn on the floor of a large room, at 
least to the depth of three inches. Into this 
room, at a given signal, tripped the bride and 
bridegroom dancing romolis, followed amain 
by all the Gitanos and Gitanas, dancing ro- 
malis. To convey a slight idea of the scene, 
is almost beyond the power of words. In a 
few minutes the sweetmeats were reduced to 
a powder, or rather to a mud, and the dancers 
were soiled to the knees with sugar, fruits, 
and yolks of eggs. Still more terrific became 
the lunatic merriment. The men sprang high 
into the air, neighed, brayed, and crowed; 
whilst the Gitanas snapped their fingers in 
their own fashion, louder than castanets, 
distortingtheir forms into all kinds of obscene 
attitudes, and uttering words to repeat which 
were an abomination. In a corner of the 
apartment capered the while Sebastianillo, a 
convict Gypsy from Melilla, strumming the 
guitar most furiously, and producing demoni- 
acal sounds which had some resemblance to 
Malbrun (Malbrouk,) and as 1 he strummed, 
repeating at intervals the Gypsy modification 
of the song. 

u Chala Malbrun rbinfrnenir, 
Kiranddn, birand6n, birandtfra— 
Cbala Malbrun cliinguerur, 
No s6 bus tutcra - 

No se bus tutera. 

No sc bus luterft 
I a romi que le r.airtf'la, 
BJr&adfoj biramkVu," <Scx 



The festival endures three days, at the end 
of which the greatest part of the property of 
the bridegroom, even if he were previously 
in easy circumstances, has been wasted in 
this strange kind of riot and dissipation. 
Paco, the Gypsy of Badajoz, attributed his 
ruin to the extravagance of his marriage fes- 
tival ; and many other Gitanos have confessed 
the same thing of themselves. They said 
that throughout the three days they appeared 
to be under the influence of infatuation, having 
no other wish or thought but to make away 
with their substance ; some have gone so far 
as to cast money by handfuls into the street. 
Throughout the three days all the doors are 
kept open, and all comers, whether Gypsies 
or Busne welcomed with a hospitality which 
knows no bounds. 

In nothing do the Jews and Gitanos more 
resemble each other than in their marriages, 
and most points connected therewith. In 
both sects there is a betrothment : amongst 
the Jews for seven, amongst the Gitanos for 
a period of two years. In both there is a 
wedding festival, which endures amongst the 
Jews for fifteen, and amongst the Gitanos for 
three days, during which, on both sides, much 
that is singular and barbarous occurs, which, 
however, has perhaps its origin in antiquity 
the most remote. But the wedding ceremo- 
nies of the Jews are far more complex and 
allegorical than those of the Gypsies, a more 
simple people. The Nazarene gazes on these 
ceremonies with mute astonishment; the 
washing of the bride — the painting of the 
face of herself and her companions with chalk 
and carmine — her ensconcing herself within 
the curtains of the bed with her female bevy, 
whilst the bridegroom hides himself within 
his apartment with the youths his companions 
— her envelopment in the white sheet, in 
which she appears like a corse, the bride- 
groom's going to sup with her, when he 
places himself in the middle of the apartment 
with his eyes shut, and without tasting a 
morsel. His going to the synagogue, and 
then repairing to breakfast with the bride, 
where he practises the same self-denial — the 
washing of the bridegroom's plate and sending 
it after him, that he may break his fast — the 
binding his hands behind him— his ransom 
paid by the bride's mother — the visit of the 
sages to the bridegroom — the mulct imposed 
in case he repent — the killing of the bullock 
at the house of the bridegroom — the present 
of meat and fowls, meal and spices, to the 
bride — the gold and silver — that most im- 
posing part of the ceremony, the walking of 
the bride by torch-light to the house of her 
betrothed, her eyes fixed in vacancy, whilst 
the youths of her kindred sing their wild 
songs around her — the cup of milk and the 
spoon presented to her by the bridegroom's 
mother — the arrival of the sages in the morn 
— the reading of the Ketuba — the night — the 
half enjoyment — the old woman — the tanta- 
lizing knock at the door — and then the fes- 
tival of fishes, which concludes all, and leaves 
the jaded and wearied couple to repose after 
a fortnight of persecution. 



84 



THE ZINCALI. 



Strange are the marriage ceremonies of 
the Jews, and much there is in them that is 
incomprehensible, even to those who can 
read the book of elucidation, the Zohar, 
(lucus a non lucendo,) but strange as they 
are, they are upon the whole less singular 
than those of the Gypsies, solely from the 
absence of two objects which flutter about in 
the bridals of the latter — these are the dicle 
and the cambric handkerchief. 

The Jews, like the Gypsies, not unfre- 
quently ruin themselves by the riot and waste 
of their marriage festivals. Throughout the 
entire fortnight, the houses, both of bride and 
bridegroom, are flung open to all comers; — 
feasting and song occupy the day — feasting 
and song occupy the hours of the night, and 
this continued revel is only broken by the 
ceremonies of which we have endeavoured to 
convey a faint idea. In these festivals the 
sages or ulemma take a distinguished part, 
doing their utmost to ruin the contracted 
parties, by the wonderful despatch which 
they make of the fowls and viands, sweet- 
meats and strong waters provided for the 
occasion. 

After marriage the Gypsy females gene- 
rally continue faithful to their husbands 
through life ; giving evidence, in one respect 
at least, of the good effects which the exhor- 
tations of their mothers in early life, and the 
use of the dicle have produced. Of course 
licentious females are to be found both 
amongst the matrons and the unmarried ; 
but such instances are rare, and must be con- 
sidered in the light of exceptions to a princi- 
ple. The Gypsy women, (I am speaking of 
those of Spain,) as far as corporeal chastity 
goes, are very paragons; but in other re- 
spects — alas ! an anecdote or two will best 
depicture what they are. At the commence- 
ment of the year 1838, 1 was visited in Madrid 
by a Gypsy woman from Cordova — her hus- 
band had been sent to the Presidio of Melilla, 
I think for a robbery of mules as usual; she 
departed for Madrid to try what she could do 
to effect his liberation. The distance was 
two hundred miles; she had two children 
which she brought with her in paniers upon 
a donkey. Whilst passing through La Man- 
cha she was met by robbers, who took from 
her the donkey, the greatest part of her dress, 
and all the money which they could find 
about her. But this did not satisfy them, 
and they were proceeding to commit another 
crime, whereupon she fell on her knees, and 
in a frantic manner told them that all kind of 
blessings should await them if they desisted; 
but if, on the contrary, they committed the 
proposed violence, all the worst curses which 
the Gypsy devil could hurl upon them should 
be their lot; and that in less than a month 
they should be carrion for the grajos (rooks.) 
She added that if they acceded to' her prayer, 
she had power to reward them on the spot. 
Even the desperadoes of La Mancha were 
abashed by her manner, and not uninfluenced, 
perhaps, by hor 1 at for words, vowed by the 
Virgin and Santo Christo to let her alone; 
■whereupon she produced several pieces of 



gold which she had concealed by a Gypsy 
artifice, and giving it them she was permitted 
to pass on. She arrived at Madrid with her 
children, whom she had been compelled to 
carry the greatest part of the way. Their 
state was wretched, half starved and naked; 
they procured, however, some relief from the 
Gitanos. Well, this faithful and exemplary 
wife, this affectionate mother, this miracle of 
corporeal chastity had scarcely recovered 
from the fatigue of her journey, when she 
commenced exhibiting the other and worst 
side of her character by plying the arts of the 
fortune-teller, the shop-lifter, and the pro- 
curess. True it is that all the while she 
thought of nothing but to obtain a sufficient 
sum to make up her loss, with which she 
hoped to bribe some notary public to report 
favourably the case of her husband. To raise 
money she depended chiefly on bringing 
couples together; in other words, purveying 
for vice. She even made her propositions to 
myself, I will not say with what result. In 
the same house, however, lived an Andalu- 
sian cavalier, rich and gay, and to him she 
next resorted with the same proffers. Now 
the Gypsy, though tawny, sun-burnt, and ill- 
dressed, was rather good-looking, and the 
Andalusian was upon the whole much taken 
with her: she told him that if he would em- 
ploy her, she would engage to procure for 
him within two days any lady with whom he 
might chance to be captivated. The Anda- 
lusian, however, soon gave her to understand 
that he liked no one better than herself, and 
that she might easily earn any thing she 
asked for. He showed her two ounces of 
gold, a far larger sum than what she had lost 
by the thieves ; she at first affected to con- 
sider him in jest, and began to enumerate 
other women far more handsome than herself 
who would be at his disposal ; but perceiving 
him growingtoo pressing, she suddenly struck 
him in the face, and, with a bitter maledic- 
tion, asked him if he thought she was one of 
the Pallias,* that he ventured to hope he 
should be able to corrupt her lacha ye trupos, 
or corporeal chastity. 

At Grenada, in the year 1836, it was my 
chance to become acquainted with an indi- 
vidual an Italian, who officiated as a kind of 
valet de place. This person had received a 
good education, and in many respects was a 
very sensible man ; he was about fifty years 
of age, and had entered Spain with the ar- 
mies of Napoleon; his manners were highly 
corrupt, and instead of affording the infor- 
mation expected from a person in his situa- 
tion, he would talk of nothing but his " bonnes 
fortunes." A casualty induced us to speak 
of the Gypsy women, but here he shook his 
head and said, that he had never experienced 
difficulty with any women but the " Maldette 
Zingarinelle." "They are possessed witli 
a fiend," he added; "I was acquainted with 
one Jaen, she lived alone, her husband ha- 
ving been transported: she supported herself 
entirely by officiating as procuress for the 

* Women who arc not Gypsies; Spanish females 



THE INWARD MONITOR. 



S5 



canons of the cathedral ; she was upwards of 
forty, but was nevertheless a ' bella e mag- 
nifica Rufiana.' I became enamoured of her, 
and we were very good friends. I soon 
proposed the matter to her; but she said it 
could never, never be.' • Why not, woman,' 
said I, ' is that matter worse than to carry 
on your present trade!' 'You are a fool, 
foreigner,' she replied, 'you know nothing 
of the ways of our people: there is a gulf 
between us which neither of us can pass.'* 
I saw it was no use, and said no more on the 
subject." 

Had this individual, who was a confirmed 
boaster, told me of a conquest effected by 
him over the Gitana, I should have entirely 
disbelieved him, but as he detailed a defeat 
which he had experienced, I placed implicit 
confidence in his words. 

It were easy to accumulate examples of 
this kind, but enough has been said on the 
subject. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ATTEMPTS MADE TO PROPAGATE THE SCRIP- 
TURE AMONGST THE GITANOS. — THE IN- 
WARD MONITOR- THE ONE-EYED GITANA. 

PEPA AND CHICHARONA. THE GYPSY CON- 
GREGATION. 

As I did not visit Spain with the express 
purpose of labouring among the Gitanos, nor 
indeed had them at all in view in my visit 
to that country, I could only devote a portion 
of my time, and that a slight one, in endea- 
vouring to remove the extreme ignorance 
under which they laboured with regard to 
the most common points of religion, and of 
interesting the minds of these strange people 
in the subject. It will be as well to observe, 
at the commencement, that I can scarcely 
flatter myself with having experienced any 
success in my endeavours ; indeed 1 never 
expected any, or at least any which I myself 
could hope to witness ; I knew too well the 
nature of the ground on which I was casting 
seed ; true it is that it may not be lost, and 
that it may eventually spring up in this or 
that direction, as barley has dropped from 
the cerements of a mummy, and has sprung 
up, and displayed vitality after laying choked 
and hidden for two thousand years. It is 
not, however, my intention to fill up this 
chapter with reflection, entertaining a belief 
that a simple narration of facts will be far 
more agreeable and instructive. 

It has been said, that there is a secret 
monitor, or conscience, within every heart, 
which immediately upbraids the individual 
on the commission of a crime; this may be 
true, but certainly the monitor within the 
Gitano breast is a very feeble one, for little 

* This unhappy and very wicked person understood 
the Scriptures well, and spoke Latin admirably. Instead 
of s^ivinp the exact words of the Gitana, lie paraphrased 
them in a quotation from the vulgate. 

12 



attention is ever paid to its reproofs. With 
regard to conscience, be it permitted to ob- 
serve, that it varies much according to cli- 
mate, country, and religion ; perhaps nowhere 
is it so terrible and strong as in England; I 
need not say why. Amongst the English, I 
have seen many individuals stricken low, and 
broken-hearted, by the force of conscience ; 
but never amongst the Spaniards or Italians ; 
and I never yet could observe that the crimes 
which the Gitanos were daily and hourly 
committing, occasioned them the slightest 
uneasiness. 

One important discovery I made among 
them ; it was, that no individual, however 
wicked and hardened, is utterly godless. 
Call it superstition, if you will, still a certain 
fear and reverence of something sacred and 
supreme would hang about them. I have 
heard Gitanos stiffly deny the existence of a 
Deity, and express the utmost contempt for 
every thing holy; yet they subsequently never 
failed to contradict themselves, by permitting 
some expression to escape which belied their 
assertions, and of this I shall presently give 
a remarkable instance. 

I found the women much more disposed to 
listen to any thing I had to say than the 
men, who were in general so taken up with 
their traffick, that they could think and talk 
of nothing else ; the women, too, had more 
curiosity, and more intelligence ; the conver- 
sational powers of some of them I found to 
be very great, and yet they were destitute 
of the slightest rudiments of education, and 
were thieves by profession. At Madrid I 
had regular conversaziones, or, as they are 
called in Spanish, tertulias, with these wo- 
men, who generally visited me twice a week ; 
they were perfectly unreserved towards me 
with respect to their actions and practices, 
though their behaviour, when present, was 
invariably strictly proper. I have already 
had cause to mention Pepa, the sibyl, and 
her daughter-in-law, Chicharona ; the man- 
ners of the first were sometimes almost ele- 
gant, though, next to Aurora, she was the 
most notorious she-Thug in Madrid ; Chicha- 
rona was good-humoured, like most fat per- 
sonages. Pepa had likewise two daughters, 
one of whom, a very remarkable female, was 
called La Tuerta, from the circumstance of 
her having but one eye, and the other, who 
was a girl of about thirteen, La Casdami, or 
the scorpion, from the malice which she oc- 
casionally displayed. 

Pepa and Chicharona were invariably my 
most constant visiters. One day in winter 
they arrived as usual ; the One-eyed and the 
Scorpion following behind. 

Myself. — " 1 am glad to see you, Pepa; what 
have you been doing this morning?" 

Pepa. — " I have been telling baji, and Chi- 
charona has been stealing a pastesas ; we 
have had but little success, and have come to 
warm ourselves at the brasero. As for the 
One-eyed, she is a very sluggard, (holgazana,) 
she will neither tell fortunes nor steal." 
The One-eyed. — "Hold your peace, mo- 



86 



THE ZINCALI. 



ther of the Bengues ; I will steal, when I see 
occasion, but it shall not be a pastesas, and I 
will hokkawar (deceive,) but it shall not be 
by telling fortunes. If I deceive, it shall be 
by horses, by jockeying.* If I steal, it shall 
be on the road — I'll rob. You know already 
what I am capable of, yet knowing that, you 
would have me tell fortunes like yourself, or 
steal like Chicharona. Me dinela conche (it 
fills me with fury) to be asked to tell fortunes, 
and the next Busnee that talks to me of bajis 
I will knock all her teeth out." 

The Scorpion. — "My sister is right; I, 
too, would sooner be a salteadora (highway- 
woman,) or a chalana (she-jockey,) than steal 
with the hands, or tell bajis." 

Myself.—" You do not mean to say, O 
Tuerta, that you are a jockey, and that you 
rob on the high-way." 

The One-eyed. — " I am a chalana, brother, 
and many a time I have robbed upon the 
road, as all our people know. I dress myself 
as a man, and go forth with some of them. I 
have robbed alone, in the pass of the Guada- 
rama, with my horse and escopeta. I alone 
once robbed a cuadrilla of twenty Gallegos, 
who were returning to their own country, 
after cutting the harvests of Castile; I stripped 
them of their earnings, and could have stripped 
them of their very clothes had I wished, for 
they were down on their knees like cowards. 
I love a brave man, be he Busno or Gypsy. 
When I was not much older than the Scor- 
pion, I went with several others to rob the 
cortijo of an old man ; it was more than 
twenty leagues from here. We broke in at 
midnight, and bound the old man : we knew 
he had money; but he said no, and would 
not tell us where it was ; so we tortured him, 
pricking him with our knives and burning his 
hands ever the lamp ; all, however, would not 
do. At last I said, « Let us try the pimientos ; 
so we took the green pepper husks, pulled 
open his eyelids, and rubbed the pupils with 
the green pepper fruit. That was the worst 
pinch of all. Would you believe it? the old 
man bore it. Then our people said, ' Let us 
kill him,' but I said, no it were a pity; so we 
spared him. though we got nothing. I have 
loved that old man ever since for his firm heart, 
and should have wished him for a husband." 

The Scorpion. — " Ojala, that I had been 
in that cortijo, to see such sport!" 

Myself.— "Bo you fear God, O Tuerta!" 

The One-eyed. — "Brother, I fear nothing." 

Myself — "Do you believe in God, Tuerta]" 

The One-eyed. — " Brother, I do not ; I hate 
all connected with that name ; the whole is 
folly; me dinela conche. If I go to church, 
it is but to spit at the images. I spat at the 
bulto of Maria this morning; and I love the 
Corojai, and the Londone,f because they are 
not baptized." 

Myself — " You, of course, never say a 
prayer." 

The One-eyed. — " No, no ; there are three 
or four old words, taught me by some old peo- 



* Por m6dio de chalancrias. 



f The English. 



pie, which I sometimes say to myself; I be- 
lieve they have both force and virtue." 

Myself — " 1 would fain hear ; pray tell me 
them." 

The One-eyed. — " Brother, they are words 
not to be repeated." 

Myself—" Why not?" 

The One-eyed. — "They are holy words, 
brother." 

Myself. — "Holy! You say there is no 
God ; if there be none, there can be nothing 
holy; pray tell me the words, O Tuerta." 

The One-eyed. — " Brother, I dare not." 

Myself. — "Then you do fear something." 

The One-eyed.—" Not I "— . 
• Saboca Enrecar Maria Ereria,'* 
and now I wish I had not said them." 

Myself. — "You are distracted, O Tuerta: 
the words say simply, ' Dwell within us, 
blessed Maria.' You have spitten on her 
bulto this morning in the church, and now 
you are afraid to repeat four words, amongst 
which is her name." 

The One-eyed. — "I did not understand 
them ; but I wish I had not said them." 

I repeat, that there is no individual, how- 
ever hardened, who is utterly godless. 

The reader will have already gathered from 
the conversations reported in this volume, and 
especially from the last, that there is a wide 
difference between addressing Spanish Gi- 
tanos and Gitanas and English peasantry: of 
a certainty what will do well for the latter, is 
calculated to make no impression on these 
thievish, half wild people. Try them with 
the Gospel, 1 hear some one cry, which speaks 
to all: I did try them with the Gospel, and 
in their own language, I commenced with 
Pepa and Chicharona. Determined that they 
should understand it, I proposed that they 
themselves should translate it. They could 
neither read nor write, which, however, did 
not disqualify them from being translators. I 
had myself previously translated the whole 
Testament into the Spanish Rommany, but I 
was desirous to circulate amongst the Gitanos, 
a version conceived in the exact language in 
which they express their ideas. The women 
made no objection, they were fond of our 
tertulias, and they likewise reckoned on one 
small glass of Malaga wine, with which I in- 
variably presented them. Upon the whole, 
they conducted themselves much better than 
could have been expected. We commenced 
with Saint Luke: they rendering into Rom- 
many the sentences which I delivered to them 
in Spanish. They proceeded as far as the 
eighth chapter, inthe middle of which they 
broke down. Was that to be wondered at] 
The only thing which astonished me was, 
that I had induced two such strange beings 
to advance so far in a task so unwonted, and 
so entirely at variance with their habits, as 
translation. 

These chapters I frequently read over to 

* These words are very anrient, and were, perhcps, 
used by the earliest Spanish Gypsies; they differ much 
from (he language of the present day, and are quite unin- 
telligible to the modern Gitanos. 



THE GYPSY CONGREGATION. 



87 



them, explaining the subject in the best man- 
ner I was able. They said it was lacho, and 
jucal, and misto, all of which words express 
approval of the quality of a thing. Were 
they improved, were their hearts softened by 
these Scripture lectures? I know not. Pepa 
committed a rather daring theft shortly after- 
wards, which compelled her to conceal her- 
self for a fortnight ; it is quite possible, how- 
ever, that she may remember the contents of 
those chapters on her death-bed, if so, will 
the attempt have been a futile one? 

I completed the translation, supplying de- 
ficiencies from my own version, begun at 
Badajoz in 1836. This translation I printed 
at Madrid in 1838 ; it was the first book which 
ever appeared in Rommany, and was called 
"Ernbeo e Majaro Lucas," or Gospel of Luke 
the Saint. I likewise published, simultane- 
ously, the same Gospel in Basque, which, 
however, I had no opportunity of circulating. 

The Gitanos of Madrid purchased the Gypsy 
Luke freely : many of the men understood it, 
and prized it highly, induced of course more 
by the language than the doctrine ; the wo- 
men were particularly anxious to obtain 
copies, though unable to read; but each 
wished to have one in their pocket, especially 
when engaged in thieving expeditions, for 
they all looked upon it in the light of a charm, 
which would preserve them from all danger 
and mischance ; some even went so far as to 
say, that in this respect it was equally effica- 
cious as the Bar Lachi, or loadstone, which 
they are in general so desirous of possessing. 
Gf this Gospel* five hundred copies were 
printed, the greatest part of which I contrived 
to circulate amongst the Gypsies in various 
parts ; 1 cast the book upon the waters and 
left it to its destiny. 

I have counted seventeen Gitanas assem- 
bled at one time in my apartment in the Calle 
de Santiago in Madrid: for the first quarter of 
an hour we generally discoursed upon indiffe- 
rent matters, when, by degrees, I guided the 
subject to religion and the state of souls. I 
finally became so bold that I ventured to speak 
against their inveterate practices, thieving 
and lying, telling fortunes, and stealing a 
pastesas; this was touching upon delicate 
ground, and I experienced much opposition 
and much feminine clamour. I persevered, 
however, and they finally assented to all I 
said, not that I believe that my words made 
much impression upon their hearts. In a few 
months matters were so far advanced that 
they would sing a hymn; I wrote one ex- 
pressly for them in Rommany, in which their 
own wild couplets were, to a certain extent, 
imitated. 

The people of the street in which I lived, 
seeing such numbers of these strange females 

* It was speedily prohibited, together with the Basque 
Gospel; by a royal ordoiniance, however, which appeared 
in the gazette of Madrid in August 1838, every public li- 
brary In the kingdom was empowered to purchase two 
copies in both languages, as the works in question were 
allowed to possess some merit in a literary point of vinr. 
In the Basque translation I was assisted by an ingenious 
gentleman, a native of the province of Guipn/.coa. 



continually passing in and out, were struck 
with astonishment, and demanded the rea- 
son. The answers which they obtained by 
no means satisfied them. " Zeal for the con- 
version of souls, — the souls too of Gitanas, — 
disparate ! the fellow is a bribon. Besides 
he is an Englishman, and is not baptized; 
what cares he for souls'? They visit him for 
other purposes. He makes base ounces, 
which they carry away and circulate. Ma- 
drid is already stocked with false money." 
Others were of opinion that we met for pur- 
poses of sorcery and abomination. The Spa- 
niard has no conception that other springs of 
action exist than interest or villany. 

My little congregation, if such I may call 
it, consisted entirely of women; the men sel- 
dom or never visited me save they stood in 
need of something which they hoped to ob- 
tain from me. This circumstance 1 little re- 
gretted, their manners and conversation being 
the reverse of interesting. It must not, how- 
ever, be supposed that, even with respect to 
the women, matters went on invariably in a 
smooth and satisfactory manner. The fol- 
lowing little anecdote will show what slight 
dependence can be placed upon them, and 
how disposed they are at all times to take 
part in what is grotesque and malicious. One 
day they arrived, attended by a Gypsy jockey 
whom I had never previously seen. We had 
scarcely been seated a minute, when this fel- 
low, rising, took me to the window, and with- 
out any preamble or circumlocution, said, — 
"Don Jorge, you shall lend me two barias" 
(ounces of gold.) " Not to your whole race, 
my excellent friend," said I ; " are you fran- 
tic? Sit down and be discreet." He obeyed 
me literally, sat down, and when the rest de- 
parted, followed with them. We did not in- 
variably meet at my own house, but occa- 
sionally at one in a street inhabited by Gyp- 
sies. On the appointed day I went to this 
house, where I found the women assembled ; 
the jockey was also present. On seeing me 
he advanced, again took me aside, and again 
said, — " Don Jorge, you shall lend me two 
barias." I made him no answer, but at once 
entered on the subject which brought me 
thither. I spoke for some time in Spanish ; I 
chose for the theme of my discourse the situa- 
tion of the Hebrews in Egypt, and pointed out 
its similarity to that of the Gitanos in Spain. 
I spoke of the power of God, manifested in 
preserving both as separate and distinct peo- 
ple amongst the nations until the present day. 
I warmed with my subject. I subsequently 
produced a manuscript book, from which [ 
read a portion of Scripture, and the Lord's 
Prayer and Apostle's Creed, in Rommany. 
When I had concluded I looked around me. 
The features of the assembly were twisted, 
and the eyes of all turned upon me with a 
frightful squint; not an individual present 
but squinted, — the genteel Pepa, the good- 
humoured Chicharona, the Caedmai, &c, 
&c, all squinted. The Gypsy fellow, the con- 
triver of t he burla, squinted worst of all. Such 
arc Gypsies. 



PART III. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE POETRY OF THE GITANOS. 

There is no nation in the world, however 
exalted or however degraded, but is in pos- 
session of some peculiar poetry, by which it 
expresses its peculiar ideas of religion or mo- 
rality, depicts the manner of life to which it 
is addicted, or in which it embodies its tradi- 
tions, if any it possess. If the Chinese, the 
Hindoos, the Greeks, and the Persians, those 
splendid and renowned races, have their mo- 
ral lays, their mythologic epics, their trage- 
dies, and their immortal love songs, so also 
have the wild and barbarous tribes of Sou- 
dan, and the wandering Esquimaux, their dit- 
ties, which, however insignificant in compa- 
rison with the compositions of the former na- 
tions, still are entitled in every essential point 
to the name of poetry; if poetry mean those 
creations of the mind in which it seeks for 
solace and recreation from the cares, dis- 
tresses, and anxieties to which mortality is 
subject. 

The Gypsies too have their poetry. Of 
that of the Russian Zigani we have already 
said something, and hope on a future occa- 
sion to be enabled to say yet more; for, 
though the present work is devoted to the 
Spanish Gypsies, we are willing to confess 
that they afford a subject by no means so ex- 
tensive and interesting as their brethren of 
Sclavonia, to whom we should assuredly have 
turned our attention in preference, had posi- 
tion and circumstances brought us so much 
and so continually in contact with them as 
with the Zincali of Spain. It has always 
been our opinion, and we believe that in this 
we are by no means singular, that in nothing 
can the character of a people be read with 
greater certainty and exactness than in its 
songs. How truly do the warlike ballads of 
the Northmen and the Danes, their drapas 
and kcempe visers, depict the character of 
the Goth ; and how equally do the songs of 
the Arabians, replete with homage to the one 
high, uncreated, and eternal God, "the foun- 
tain of blessing," "the only conqueror," lay 
bare to us the mind of the Moslem of the de- 
sert, whose grand characteristic is religious 
veneration and uncompromising zeal for the 
glory of the Creator. 

The poetry of the Spanish Gypsies is, in 
almost every respect, such as might be ex- 
pected to originate among people of their 
class: a set of Thugs, subsisting by cheating 



and villany of every description ; hating the 
rest of the human species, and bound to each 
other by the bands of common origin, lan- 
guage, and pursuits. The themes of this po- 
etry are the various incidents of Gitano life — 
cattle-stealing, prison adventures, assassina- 
tion, revenge, with allusions to the peculiar 
customs of the race of Roma. Here we be- 
hold a swine running down a hill, calling to 
the Gypsy to steal him, which he will most 
assuredly accomplish by means of his intoxi- 
cating drao — a Gypsy reclining sick on the 
prison floor, beseeches his wife to intercede 
with the alcayde for the removal of the chain 
whose weight is bursting his body — the moon 
arises, and two Gypsies, who are about to 
steal a steed, perceive a Spaniard and in- 
stantly flee. Sometimes expressions of wild 
power and romantic interest occur. The 
swarthy lover threatens to slay his be- 
trothed, even at the feet of Jesus, should 
she prove unfaithful. And another hopes to 
bear away a beauty of Spanish race, by the 
magic sound of a word of Romrnany whis- 
pered in her ear at the window. 

Amongst these effusions are even to be 
found tender and beautiful thoughts; for 
Thugs and Gitanos have their moments of 
gentleness. True it is that such are few and 
far between, as a flower or a shrub are here 
and there seen springing up from the inter- 
stices of the rugged and frightful rocks of 
which the Spanish sierras are composed : a 
wicked mother is afraid to pray to the Lord 
with her own lips, and calls on her innocent 
babe to beseech him to restore peace and 
comfort to her heart— an imprisoned youth 
appears to have no earthly friend on whom 
he can rely, save his sister, and wishes for a 
messenger to carry unto her the tale of his 
sufferings, confident that she would hasten 
at once°to his assistance. And what can be 
more touching than the speech of the re- 
lenting lover to the fair one whom he has 
outraged? 

" Extend to me the hand so small, 

Wherein 1 see thee weep, 

For O thy balmy tear-drops nil 

I would collect and keen!" 

This Gypsy poetry consists of quartets, or 
rather couplets, but two rhymes being dis- 
cernible, and those generally imperfect, the 
vowels alone agreeing in sound. Occasion- 
ally, however, sixains or stanzas of six lines, 
a re to be found, but this is of rare occurrence. 
The thought, anecdote or adventure described, 
is seldom carried beyond one stanza, in which 
every thing is expressed which the poet wishes 



RHYMES. 



89 



to impart. This feature will appear singu- 
lar to those who are unacquainted with the 
character of the popular poetry of the south, 
and are accustomed to the redundancy and 
frequently tedious repetition of a more po- 
lished muse. It will be well to inform such 
that the greatest part of the poetry sung in 
the south, and especially in Spain, is extem- 
porary. The musician composes it at the 
stretch of his voice, whilst his fingers are 
tugging at the guitar; which style of compo- 
sition is by no means favourable to a long and 
connected series of thought. Of course, the 
greatest part of this species of poetry perishes 
as soon as born. A stanza, however, is some- 
times caught up by the by-standers, and com- 
mitted to memory; and, being frequently re- 
peated, makes, in time, the circuit of the 
country. For example, the stanza about Co- 
runcho Lopez, which was originally made at 
the gate of a venta by a Miquelet,* who was 
conducting the said Lopez to the galleys for 
a robbery. It is at present sung through the 
whole of the peninsula, however insignificant 
it may sound to foreign ears : — 

" Coruncho Lopez, gallant lad, 
A smuggling he would ride; 
He stole his father's ambling prad, 
And therefore to the galleys sad 
Coruncho now I guide." 

The couplets of the Gitanos are composed 
in the same off-hand manner, and exactly re- 
semble in metre the popular ditties of the 
Spaniards. In spirit, however, as well as 
language, they are in general widely differ- 
ent, as they mostly relate to the Gypsies and 
their affairs, and not unfrequently abound 
with abuse of the Busne or Spaniards. Many 
of these creations have, like the stanza of 
Coruncho Lopez, been wafted over Spain 
amongst the Gypsy tribes, and are even fre- 
quently repeated by the Spaniards them- 
selves ; at least, by those who affect to imi- 
tate the phraseology of the Gitanos. Those 
which appear in the present collection, con- 
sist partly of such couplets, and partly of 
such as we have ourselves taken down, as 

* A species of gendarme or armed policeman. The 
Miquelets have existed in Spain for upwards ol'two hun- 
dred years. They are called Miquelets, from the name 
of their original leader. They are generally Aragonese 
by nation, and reclaimed robbers. 



soon as they originated, not unfrequently In 
the midst of a circle of these singular people, 
dancing and singing to their wild music. Jn 
no instance have they been subjected to mo- 
dification ; and the English translation is, in 
general, very faithful to the original, as will 
easily be perceived by referring to the lexi- 
con. To those who may feel disposed to 
find fault with or criticise these songs, wo 
have to observe, that the present work has 
been written with no other view than to de- 
pict the Gitanos such as they are, and to il- 
lustrate their character; and, on that ac- 
count, we have endeavoured, as much as 
possible, to bring them before the reader, and 
to make them speak for themselves. They 
are a half civilized, unlettered people, pro- 
verbial for a species of knavish acuteness, 
which serves them in lieu of wisdom. To 
place in the mouth of such beings the high- 
flown sentiments of modern poetry would not 
answer our purpose, though several authors 
have not shrunk from such an absurdity. 

These couplets have been collected in Es- 
tremadura and New Castile, in Valencia and 
Andalusia; the four provinces where the Gi- 
tano race most abounds. We wish, howe- 
ver, to remark, that they constitute scarcely 
a tenth part of our original gleanings, from 
which we have selected one hundred of tke 
most remarkable and interesting. 

The language of the originals will convey 
an exact idea of the Rommany of Spain, as 
used at the present day amongst the Gitanos 
in the fairs, when they are buying and sell- 
ing animals, and wish to converse with each 
other in a way unintelligible to the Spaniards. 
We are free to confess that it is a mere bro- 
ken jargon, but it answers the purpose of 
those who use it ; and it is but just to remark 
that many of its elements are of the most re- 
mote antiquity, and the most illustrious de- 
scent, as will be shown hereafter. We have 
uniformly placed the original by the side of 
the translation ; for though unwilling to make 
the Gitanos speak in any other manner than 
they are accustomed, we are equally averse 
to have it supposed that many of the thoughts 
and expressions which occur in these songs, 
and which are highly objectionable, origi- 
nated with ourselves. 



POESIAS DE LOS GITANOS. RHYMES OF THE GITANOS, 



Me ligueron al vero, 

Por medio de una estaripel, 

Le penelo a mi romi, 

Que la mequelo con mi chabore. 



Unto a refuge me they led, 
To save from dungeon drear; 

Then sighing to my wife I said: 
I leave mv habv dear. 



90 



THE ZINCALI. 



II. 

Abillelo del vcro, 
Dique a mi chabori, 
He penado a mi romi : 
Io me chalo de aqui. 

in. 

Cuando me blejelo en mi gra, 
Mi chabori al atras, 
Ustilelo io la pusca, 
Empiezan daranar. 

IV. 

Manguela chabori, 
Si estas en gracia de Undebel, 
Que me saiga araquerarme, 
Descanso a mi suncue. 



El chuquel de Juanito 
Bien puede chalar con cuidao 
Que los Cales de Lleira 
Le quieren dinar un pucazo. 

VI. 

Nueve bejis hace hoy 
Que chalaste de mi quer, 
Abillar a Santo Christo, 
A diflarle cuenta a Undebel. 

VII. 

Mai fin terele el Crallis, 
Que lo caquero, 
Liguero a mi batus y min dai, 
Y me mequelo. 

VIII. 

Sinaron en una bal 
Unos poco de randes, 
Con las puscas en las pates, 
Pa marar a Undebel. 

IX. 

Por aquel luchipen abajo> 
Abillela un balichoro, 
Abillela a goli goli : 
Ustilame Caloro. 



El gate de mi trupo, 
No se muchobela en pani, 
Se muchobela con la rati, 
De Juanito Rali. 

XI. 

He costunado en mi gra, 
Con Juanito Rali, 
Al sicobar por l'ulicha, 1 
Un pucazo io le di. 

XII. 

Al pinre de Jezunvais 
Me abillelo matarar 
La gachi que llo camelo, 
Si abillela nansala. 

XIII. 

Cuando paso por Pulicha, 
Yebo el estache blejo, 
Para que no penele tun dai 
De que camelo io. 

XIV. 

No te chibcle beldolaia, 
A recogerte una fremi ; 
Quo no es el jnlia mas rico, 
Ni la bal mas bari. 



ii. 

Back from the refuge soon I sped, 

My child's sweet face to see; 
Then sternly to my wife I said, 

You've seen the last of me. 

in. 

when I sit my courser bold, 
My bantling in my rear, 

And in my hand my musket hold, 

how they quake with fear. 

IV. 

Pray little baby, pray the Lord, 

Since guiltless still thou art, 
That peace and comfort he afford 

To this poor troubled heart. 

v. 

The false Juanito, day and night, 

Had best with caution go, 
The Gypsy carles of Yeira height, 

Have sworn to lay him low. 

VI. 

Nine years are past since this abode 

Thou left'st to grief a prey, 
And took'st to Christ the heavenward road, 
~ To him account to pay. 

VII. 

Upon the king may evils pour, 

Such ills from him I've borne, 
From me my parents lov'd he tore, 

1 now am left forlorn. 

VIII. 

Within a garden rav'd and yell'd 

A desperate robber horde, 
And in their hands they muskets held, 

To shoot their God and Lord. 

IX. 

There runs a swine down yonder hill, 

As fast as e'er he can, 
And as he runs he crieth still, 

Come steal me, Gypsy man. 

x. 

1 wash'd not in the limpid flood, 

The shirt which binds my frame; 
But in Juanito Ralli's blood, 
I bravely wash'd the same. 

XI. 

I sallied forth upon my gray, 

With him my hated foe, 
And when we reach'd the narrow way, 

I dealt a dagger blow. 

XII. 

To blessed Jesus' holy feet, 

I'd rush to kill and slay 
My pliffhted lass so fair and sweet, 

Should she the wanton play. 

XIII. 

I slouch my beaver o'er my brow, 

As down the street I rove, 
For fear thy mother keen should know 

That I her daughter love. 

XIV. 

The purslain weed thou must not sow, 

If thou wouldst fruit obtain, 
As poor would be the garden's show, 

As would the crardcner's gain. 



RHYMES. 



91 



XV. 

He mangado la pani, 

No me la camelaron dinar ; 

He chalado a la ulicha 

Y me he chibado a dustilar. 

XVI. 

He mangado una poca yaque, 
No me la camelaron dinar, 
El gate de mi trupo, 
Si io les camelare dinar. 

XVII. 

Najeila Pepe Conde, 
Que te abillelan a marar, 
Abillelan cuatro jundunares, 
Con la bayoneta cala' 

XVIII. 

El Bengue de Manga verde, 
Nunca camela dinar, 
Que la ley de los Cales 
La camela nicabar. 

XIX. 

Chalando por una ulicha 
He dica'o una mulati, 

Y a mi me araquero : 
Garabelate Calori. 



He chalado a la cangri, 
A araquerar con Undebel, 
Al tiempo de sicobarme, 
Alache pansche chules. 

XXI. 

Io me chale a mi quer, 
En buscar de mi romi, 
La topisare orobando, 
Por medio de mi chabori. 

XXII. 

Me chalo por una rochime, 
A buscarme mi bien serial; 
Me tope con Undebel, 

Y me peno: Aonde chalas'? 

XXIII. 

Abillaron a un gao 
Unos poco de Cales, 
Con la chaboeia orobando, 
Porque no terelaban lo hates, 
Pa dinarles que jamar, 

Y maraban Undebel. 

XXIV. 

El crallis en su trono, 
Me mando araquerar ; 
Coma, aromali, me camelaba, 
Ahcra su real me heta. 

XXV. 

He chalado por un dru, 
He dicado una rande, 
A las goles que dinaba, 
He pejado Undebel. 

XXVI. 

El crallis anda najando, 
Que lo camelo marar ; 
Ha ampenado las chabes, 
Que no los tenga dustilar. 



xv. 

I for a cup of water cried, 
But they refus'd my pray'r; 

Then straight into the road I hied, 
And fell to robbing there. 

XVI. 

I ask'd for fire to warm my frame, 
But they'd have scorn'd my pray'r, 

If I, to pay them for the same, 
Had stripp'd my body bare. 

XVII. 

Fly, Pepe Conde, seek the hill, 

To flee's thy only chance, 
With bayonets fix'd thy blood to spill, 

See soldiers four advance. 

XVIII, 

The Gypsy fiend of Manga mead, 

Who never gave a straw, 
He would destroy, for very greed, 

The good Egyptian law. 

XIX. 

I walk'd the street, and there 1 spied 

A goodly gallows-tree, 
And in my ear methought it cried; 

Gypsy, beware of me. 



The church I enter'd, thither bound 
With God discourse to hold, 

And when I left it, lo, I found 
A prize — five crowns of gold. 

XXI. 

I bounded through my cottage door, 

My partner to embrace, 
And lo, I found her weeping o'er 

My dying infant's face. 

XXII. 

I spurr'd my courser o'er the ford, 

Afar my luck I'd try, 
Encounter'd me my God and Lord f 

And said, where dost thou hie] 

xxnr. 
There came adown the village street, 

With little babes that cry, 
Because they have no crust to cat, 

A Gypsy company; 
And as no charity they meet, 

They curse the Lord on high. 

XXIV. 

I spoke, 'twas at the king's command, 

And as I spoke he smiPd 
Benign, and now, by all the land 

Your Highness I am styl'd. 

XXV. 

Along the pathway as I trod, 

A beggar met my eye, 
And at her cries the Almighty God 

Descended from the sky. 

XXVI. 

The king in fear before me runs, 
Because I him would slay, 

He bears with him his little ones, 
Lest hands on them I lay. 



92 



THE ZINCALI. 



XXVII. 

El erajai de Villa Franca 
Ha mandiserado araquerar, 
Que la ley de los Cales, 
La camela nicabar. 

XXVIII. 

Abillela el erajai 
Por el dm de Zabuncha, 
El chororo de Facundo 
Ha comenzado najar. 

XXIX. 

Me chalo de mi quer, 
En l'ulicha m'ustilaron ; 
Ampenado de los Busnes, 
Este Calo ha sinado. 

XXX. 

Me sicobaron del estaripel, 
Me ligueron al libano ; 
Ampenado de los Busnes 
Esto Calo no ha sinado. ' 

XXXI. 

Toda la erachi pirando 
Emposuno, emposuno, 
Con las acais pincherando 
Para dicar el Busno 
Que le dinele con el chulo. 

XXXII. 

No hay quien liguerele las nuevas 

A la chabori de min dai, 

Que en el triste delveo 

Me sinelan nicabando la metepe! 

XXXIII. 

Sinamos jatanes y les peno 
Que se sicobelen por abri, 
Que camelo araquerar 
Con esta romi. 

XXXIV. 

Me ha penado que gustisaraba 
Un estache de Laloro ; 
'Laver chibes por la tasala 
Chalo a la tienda y lo quino. 

XXXV. 

Le sacaron a mulabar 
Entre cuatro jundunares ; 
Ha penado laCrallisa 
Que no marela a nadie. 

XXXVI. 

Por la ulicha van beando 
Vasos finos de cristal ; 
Dai merca mangue uno, 
Que lo camelo estrenar. 

XXXVII. 

No camelo romi 
Que camela chinoro ; 
Chalo por las cachimanis 
Beando el pefiacoro. 

XXXVIII. 

Undcbel de chinoro 
!>c gnillo con los Cales; 
Y sinelando el varo 
Le mataron los gaehes. 



XXVII. 

The priest of Villa Franca bold 

Proclaimeth far and wide, 
That he the law which Gypsies hold 

Is bent to set aside. 

XXVIII. 

And see adown the road doth prance 

The priest in full array, 
In fear before his countenance 

Facundo runs away. 

XXIX. 

I left my house and walk'd about, 
They seized me fast and bound; 

It is a Gypsy thief, they shout, 
The Spaniards here have found. 

xxx. 
From out the prison me they led, 

Before the scribe they brought ; 
It is no Gypsy thief, he said, 

The Spaniards here have caught. 

XXXI. 

Throughout the night, the dusky night, 

I prowl in silence round, 
And with my eyes look left and right, 

For him, the Spanish hound, 
That with my knife I him may smite, 

And to the vitals wound. 

XXXII. 

Will no one to the sister bear 
News of her brother's plight. 

How in this cell of dark despair, 
To cruel death he's dight. 

XXXIII. 

We all are met, a sign I make, 
That they abroad should steal, 

For to this maid my mind to break, 
So sore inclin'd I feel. 

xxxiv. 

She told me she would gladly wear 

A hat of Portugal ; 
To-morrow's morn 'twill be my care 

To buy one at the stall. 

xxxv. 
The youth to execution went, 

Held fast by soldier's hands ; 
The queen proclaimed him innocent, 

And freed him from his bands. 

XXXVI. 

Within the street they're selling, see, 

Vases of crystal fine ; 
Dear mother, purchase one for me — 

I'll fill it up with wine. 

XXXVII. 

I hate a wife who sits at homo 

A-fondling aye her child ; 
Unto the brandy shops I roam, 

And drink till I am wild. 

XXXVIII. 

The Lord, as e'en the Gentiles state, 

By Egypt's nice was bred, 
And when he came to man's estate, 

His blood the Gentiles shed. 



RHYMES. 



93 



XXXIX. 

No camelos a gaches 
Por mucho que se aromanen, 
Que al fin ila por partida 
Te reverdisce la rati. 

XL. 

Dela estaripel me sicobelaron 

Blejo un gel ; 

Por toda la polvorosa 

Me zuran el barandel. 

XL I. 

Me sicobelan dela estaripel 
Me ligueron al vero 
Ustilada una pusca 
Un puscazo les dino. 

XLII. 

He abillado de Madrilati 
Con muclia pena y dolor, 
Porque ha penado el Crallis : 
Marad a ese Cala. 

XLIII. 

Ya estan los Cales balbales 
Cada uno en sus queres, 
Y tosares los pobrecitos 
Los llevan al jurepe. 

XLIV. 

La puri de min dai 
La curaron los randes, 
Al abillar a la Meligrana 
Pa manguelarme metepe. 



Que el encarcelamiento de Undebel 
No causo tanto dolor, 
Cuando se guillaba la Majari 
Atras de su Chaboro. 

XLVI. 

Sinaron en un paluno 
Unos poco de Cales ;! 
Se ban sicobado najando 
Por medio del barate. 

XLVII. 

Empunandome '1 estache 
La plata para salir, 
Me curelan los soiares — 
Ustile la churi. 

XLVIII. 

Me costune la chori 
Para chalar a Laloro, 
Al nacar de la pani 
Abillo obusno, 

Y el chuquel a largo me chibo. 

XLTX. 

Empenete romi 

Con el carcelero, 

Que me nicobelc este gran sase, 

Porque me merelo. 

L. 

Tositos los correoi 
Te dinelan recado, 

Y tu me tenelas en el rinconcillo. 
De Jos olvidados. 

10 



XXXIX. 

O never with the Gentiles wend, 
Nor deem their speeches true ; 

Or else, be certain in the end, 
Thy blood will lose its hue. 

XL. 

From out the prison me they bore, 

Upon an a^s they plac'd, 
And scourg'd me till I dripp'd with gore, 

As down the road it pac'd. 

XLI. 

They bore me from the prison nook, 
They bade me rove at large ; 

When out I'd come a gun I took, 
And scathed them with its charge. 

XLII. 

From out Madrid I wretch have fled 
With many a tear and sigh, 

Because the cruel king has said — 
This Gypsy he shall die. 

XLIII. 

Within his dwelling sits at ease 

Each wealthy Gypsy churl, 
While ali the needy ones they seize 

And into prison hurl. 

XLIV. 

My mother, ag'd afflicted dame 

By thieves beset was she, 
To high Granada as she came 

From bondage me to free. 

XLV. 

For oh ! the imprisonment of God 

Awak'd not grief more wild 
In blessed Mary as she trod 

Behind her heavenly child. 

XLVI. 

Of Gypsy folk a scanty few 

Into the wood had stray'd, 
But out in hurry soon they flew 

Before the fierce alcayde. 



My hat and mantle on I cast 

To sally forth I thought, 
Then by the greaves they seiz'd me fast, 

And I my dagger caught. 

XLVIII. 

My mule so bonny I bestrode, 

To Portugal I'd floe, 
And as I o'er the water rode 

A man came suddenly; 
And he his love and kindness show'd 

By setting his dog on me. 

XLIZ. 

O wife, beseech the prison lord 

That he this chain remove. 
For I shall perish ovcrpower'd 

Unless he clement prove. 

L. 

Each post that leaves the village gate 
My message forth doth bear, 

But still forgotten here I wait, 
And wither and despair. 
12 



94 



THE ZIKCALI. 



LI. 

Si min dai abillar 
A dicar a su men, 
Io le penara que fuera 
Con Dios (Jndebel. 



Me ardinelo a la muralia 

Y Je penelo al jil, 

Que me querelaron un tumbacillo 
De acero y de marfil, 

LIII. 

Pucas tenela min dai 
Ducas tenelo yo, 
Las de min dai io siento 
Las de Mangue no. 

LIV. 

Si pasaras por la cangri 
Trin berjis despues de mi mular, 
Si araqueras por min nao 
Respondiera mi cocal. 

LV. 

Io no tenelo batu 

Ni dai tampoco, 

Io tenelo un planelillo. 

Y le Hainan el loco. 

LVI. 

Si tu te romandinaras 

Y io le supiera, 

Io vestiria todo min trupos 
De bayeta negra. 

LVII. 

Si io no t'endicara 

En una semana — 

Como aromali Flamenca de Roma 

Me rincondenara. 

LVIII. 

Flamenca de Roma 
Si tu sinaras mia, 
Te metiera entre viere 
Por sari la vida. 

LIX. 

Difiame el pate 

Por donde orobaste, 

A recoger la pani delas acais 

Que tu derramaste.j 

LX, 

El gate de mi trupo 
No se muchobela en pani, 
Se muchobela con la rati 
Que ha chibado mi romi. 

LXI. 

No sinela su men min dai 
La que me chindo, 
Que sinando io chinorillo 
Se liguero v me meco. 

LXII. 

Tosarias las m ananas 
Que io me ardinelo, 
Con la pani de mis acais 
La chichi me nmcliabelo. 

LXIII. 

Tu patu y tun dai 
Me publican clijnga, 



Sir Cavalier, my mother dear 

Must come and visit you, 
That Mother dear, Sir Cavalier, 

The face of God may view. 

LII. 

I'll climb the wall which towereth there, 

And to the winds I'll cry; 
They've built for me a tomb so fair 

Of steel and ivory. 

LIII. 

My mother has of griefs a store 

And I have got my own ; 
Full keen and sore I hers deplore, 

But ne'er for mine I moan. 

LIV. 

When I in grave three years have lain, 
If thou shouldst pass thereby, 

And but to breathe my name shouldst deign, 
My dead bones would reply. 

LV. 

Sire nor mother me caress, 

For I have none on earth ; 
One little brother I possess, 

And he's a fool by birth. 

LVI. 

If thou another man" shouldst wed, 
And I the same should know, 

In mourning clad, from foot to head, 
For ever I would go, 

LVII. 

Unless within a fortnight's space 

Thy face, O maid, I see, 
Flamenca of Egyptian race 

My lady love shall be. 

LVIII. 

Flamenca of Egyptian race, 

If thou wert only mine, 
Within a bonny crystal case 

For life I'd thee enshrine. 

LIX. 

Extend to me the hand so small, 

Wherein I see thee weep, 
For O thy balmy tear-drops all 

I would collect and keep. 

LX. 

I wash'd not in the limpid flood 

The goodly shirt I bear, 
I wash'd it in the streaming blood 

Of my betrothed fair. 

LXI. 

Thou'rt not, sweet dame who smil'st so mild 

The mother me who bore, 
She left, me whilst a little child, 

And fled and came no more. 

LXII. 

Each morning when from bed I rise, 

'Tis then I lave my face 
With tears, which from my wretched eyes 

Begin to flow apace. 

LXIII. 

Thy sire and mother wrath and hate 
Have vow'd against me, love! 



RHYMES. 



95 



Como la rachi mu chalemos 
Afuera d'este gau. 

LXIV. 

Abillelate a la dicani, 
Que io voy te penelar 
Una buchi en Calo, 
Y despues te liguerar. 

LXV. 

Unas acais callardias 

Me ban vencido, 

Como aromali no me vencen otras 

De cayque nacido. 

LXVI. 

Como camelas que te rnequele 
Si en su men tuve una chabori, 
Que cada vez que abillelo 
Le penara en Germani. 

LXVII. 

Undebel me ha castigado 
Con esa romi tan fea, 
Que nastisarelo liguerarla 
Adonde los busne la vean. 

LXVIII. 

Esta rachi no abillelan 
Dai los Cales; 
Es serial que ban chalado 
A los durotunes. 

LXIX. 

Un chibe los Cales 

Han gastado olibeas de seda, 

Y acana por sus desgracias 
Gasten saces con cadenas. 

LXX. 

Esta gran duca 

Ha ardinelado al cielo, 

Que Undebel de los tres cayes 

Lo pongo en su remedio. 

LXXI. 

Tres vezes te he araquerado 

Y no camelas abillar; 

Si io me vuelvo a araquerarte 
Mi trupos han de marar. 

LXXII. 

Alia arribita 

Mararon no chanelo quien; 
El mulo cayo en la truni 
El maraol se puso a huir. 

LXXIII. 

Sinaron en unos bures 
Unos poco de randes, 
Aguardisarando q'abiflara. 
La Crallisa y los parnes. 

LXXIV. 

Chalo para mi quer 
Me tope con el meripe; 
Me peno, adonde chalas 1 
Le pene, para mi quer. 

LXXV. 

Io no camelo ser eray 
Que es Calo mi nacimiento ; 
Io no camelo ser eray 
Con ser Calo me contento. 



The first, first night *hat from the gate 
We two together rove. 

LXIV. 

Come to the window, sweet love, do, 

And I will whisper there, 
In Romrnany, a word or two, 

And thee far off will bear. 



A Gypsy stripling's sparkling eye 
Has pierced my bosom's core; 

A feat no eye beneath the sky 
Could e'er effect before. 

LXVI. 

Dost bid me from the land begone, 

And thou with child by me'? 
Each time I come, the little one 

I'll greet in Romrnany. 

LXVII. 

With such an ugly, loathly wife 

The Lord has punish'd me, 
I dare not take her for my life 

Where'er the Spaniards be. 

LXVIII. 

Tkis night abroad the Gypsies stay, 

O mother, that's a sign 
They've to the shepherds ta'en their way, 

To steal the lambkins fine. 

LXIX. 

Brown Egypt's race in days of old 
Were wont silk hose to wear, 

But for their sins so manifold 
They now must fetters bear. 



That spirit, long oppress'd with grief, 
Hath scap'd and heavenward flown, 

In hope the Lord will grant relief 
Who builds in heaven his throne. 

LXXI. 

I've called thee thrice in anxious strain, 

But thou dost not appear, 
And should I raise my voice again 

Thy kinsmen me would hear. 

LXXII. 

Above there, in the dusky pass, 
Was wrought a murder dread ; 

The murder'd fell upon the grass, 
Away the murderer fled. 

LXXIII. 

The thieves, the thieves are on the watch 

Amid the hills so green; 
They're on the watch that they may catcli 

The treasure and the queen. 

LXXIV. 

Towards my home I bent my course. 

Then death to me drew nigh, 
And where art bound I he bellow'd hoarse, 

Home, home, was my reply. 

LXXV. 

O I am not of gentle clan, 

I'm sprung from Gypsy tree, 
And I will be no gentleman, 

But an Egyptian tree. 



96 



THE ZINCALI. 



LXXVI. 

La filimicha esta puesta, 

Y en ella un chindobaro, 
Pa mulabar una lendriz 
Que echantan estardo. 

LXXVII. 

El reo con sus chineles 
Le sacan del' estaripel, 

Y le alumbran con las velas 
De la gracia Undebel. 

LXXVIII. 

El baro jil mejanela 

Los chobares me dan tormento ; 

lo me chalo al daro quer, 

Y ote alivio a mi cuerpo. 

LXXIX. 

Si tu chalas por l'ulicha 

Y rachelas con mi romi, 
Pen que mangue monrabelo 
Que querele yaque a la peri. 

LXXX. 

Mango me chalo a mi quer 

Y te mequelo un cotor, 
Si abillelas con mangue 
Te dinelo mi carlo. 

LXXXI. 

La tremucha se ardela 
Guillabela el caloro: 
Chasa mangue, acai 
Abillela obusno. 

LXXXII. 

Abillela la rachi 

Y io no puedo pirar, 
lo me chalo mirando 
Q' abillele un jundunar 

Y me camele marar. 

LXXXI1I. 

Este quer jandela minchi, 
Acai no abillele la salipen ; 
Mi batus camela a tun dai 
Mango me chalo a mi quer. 

LXXXIV. 

La romi que se abillela 
Debajo delos portales, 
No s'abillela con tusa, 
Que s'abillela con mangue. 

LXXXV. 

Tapa chabea las chuchais, 
Que las dica el bufio ; 
Que las digue 6 no las digue 
A el chabe lo camelo io. 

LXXX VI. 

Esta rachi voy de pirar 
A dinar mule a un errajai, 

Y me chapesgue de mi pasma 
A los pindres del oclay. 

LXXXVII. 

La romi que io cameloO 
Si otro me la camelara, 
Sacaria la chuli 

Y la fila le cortara, 

O el me la cortara a mi. 



LXXVI. 

The gallows grim they've raised once more, 

The hangman ready stands, 
And all to slay a partridge poor 

That's fallen in their hands. 

LXXVII. 

'Twixt soldier now and alguazil 

The culprit forth they bear, 
Whilst him with grace divine to fill 

The holy tapers glare. 

LXXVIII. 

I'm bitten by the frosty air, 

The fleas about me swarm : 
Unto the great house I'll repair, 

And there myself I'll warm. 

LXXIX. 

If down the street, my friend, thou stray, 
And my dear wife thou meet, 

I'm plying, say, the shears all day, 
That she the pot may heat. 

LXXX. 

I hasten home, but leave with thee 

A portion of my heart, 
But if thou home wilt come with me 

The whole I will impart. 

LXXXI. 

On high arose the moon so fair, 

The Gypsy 'gan to sing : 
I see a Spaniard coming there, 

I must be on the wing. 

LXXXII. 

The night descends, yet I'm afraid 

Abroad my face to show ; 
I fear to meet a soldier blade, 

Who'd kill me at a blow. 

LXXXIII. 

This house of harlotry doth smell, 

I flee as from the pest; 
Your mother likes my sire too well ; 

To hie me home is best. 

LXXXIV. 

That lass with cheek of rosy hue 
That's entering now the gate, 

She does not come to visit you, 
She comes on me to wait. 

LXXXV. 

O daughter, hide thy breasts, for shame, 

For them the boy can see, — 
And if he can, or cannot, Dame, 

That boy is lov'd by me. 

LXXXVI. 

This night, to dog the priest I go, 

And shed his priestly gore, 
Then I will haste myself to throw 

The monarch's feet before. 

LXXXVII. 

The girl I love more dear than life 

Should other gallant woo, 
I'd straight unsheath my dudgeon knife 

And cut his weasand through, 
Or ho, the conqueror in the strife, 

The same to me should do. 



TUIYMES. 



97 



LXXXVIII. 

Esos calcos que tenelas 
En tus pulidos pindres, 
No se los dines a nadie, 
Que me costaron el parnes. 

LXXXIX. 

Corojai en grastes 
Majares en pindre, 
Al tomar del quer lacho 
Del proprio Undebel. 

xc. 

Mas que io me guillelo 
Portu bundal, 
Al dicar tu chaboreia 
Me difiela canrea. 

xci. 

Te chibelas en l'ulicha 
Querelando el sobindoi ; 
Abillela el barete, 

Y te chibela estardo. 

xcu. 

Voy dicando tus parlachas, 
Para poder las quinar, 
Para chibarlas bucha, 
Sin que chanele tun dai. 

xcin. 

Me ardifielo de tasala 
A orotarme que jalar, 
A tosare Busne puchando, 
Si tenelan que monrabar. 

XCIV. 

Un caloro chororo 
Se vino por jundunar, 
Se najo con los jalleri, 

Y le mandaron unglabar. 

XCV. 

Retirate a la cangri 
Mira que abillela el chinel, 
Mira no te jongabe 

Y te lleve al estaripel. 

XCVI. 

Chalo a la beia de Clunes 
A manguelar mi metepe; 
Los erais de la beia 
Me dinaron estaripel. 

XCVII. 

A la burda de su men 

Abillela un pobre lango mango, 

Pirando del vero, — 

No permita su majaro lacho 

Que su men se abillele, 

En semejante curelo. 

XCVIII. 

Mango me chalo pirar 
Por el narsaro baro, 
En estes andaribeles, 
Al chen de lospallardos. 

XCIX. 

Un Coroyai me penelo 

Que camelaba Undeber y mangue; 

Y io le he penelado 

Tute camarelas ser chuquer. 



LXXXVIII. 

The shoes, O girl, which thou dost bear 
On those white feet of thine, 

To none resign for love or pray'r, 
They're bought with coin of mine. 

LXXXIX. 

On horseback fought the bloody Moors, 

On foot the Christian clan, 
What time were gain'd the holy towers 

Where God once dwelt with man. 



Whene'er, and that's full frequently, 

I past your portal go, 
And there your naked babes espy, 

I feel at heart so low. 

xci. 

Within the street thou down hast lain 

To slumber in the ray, 
And yonder comes the justice train, 

Who'll thee in prison lay. 

xcu. 

To spy thy window, love, I go, 

For I would creep in there, 
And out to thee thy things would throw, 

Thy mother not aware. 

XCIII. 

I'll rise to-morrow bread to earn, 

For hunger's worn me grim, 
Of all I meet I'll ask in turn 

If they've no beasts to trim. 

XCIV. 

The Gypsy bold himself enroll'd 

As soldier of the king, 
But he deserted with the gold, 

And therefore he must swing. 

XCV. 

Seek, seek the church, thou'st broke the law, 

The alguazil I spy ; 
He comes on thee to set his claw 

And drag to custody. 

XCVI. 

I ran to Clime's judgment seat 

My forfeit life to crave; 
The judges rose upon their feet, 

And chains and dungeon gave. 

XCVII. 

I come a-begging to your gate, 
A maim'd and crippled wight, 

From out the prison thrust of late 
In rags and tatters dight; 

May thy blest saint from such a fate 
Protect thee, good Sir Knight. 

XCVIII. 

T leave my home and haste to roam 

In yonder bark of pride, 
To lands far o'er the salt sea foam, 

Where foreign nations bide. 

xcix. 
One day a bearded Moor did vow 

He lov'd the Lord and me; 
And I replied with frowning brow, 

Thou lov'st a dog to be. 



9S 



THE ZINC ALL 



El eray guillabeia 
El eray obusno ; 
0,'abillele Romanela, 
No abillele Caloro. 



La chimutra se ardela, 
A pas-erachi ; 
El Calo no abillela 
Abillela la Romi. 



c. 

Loud sang the Spanish cavalier, 
And thus his ditty ran : — 

God send the Gypsy lassie here, 
And not the Gypsy man. 

ci. 

At midnight, when the moon began 
To show her silver flame, 

There came to him no Gypsy man, 
The Gypsy lassie came. 



CHAPTER II. 



SPURIOUS GYPSY POETRY OF ANDALUSIA. 



The Gitanos, abject and vile as they have 
ever been, have nevertheless found admirers 
in Spain, individuals who have taken plea- 
sure in their phraseology, pronunciation, and 
way of life ; but above all, in the songs and 
dances of the females. This desire for culti- 
vating their acquaintance is chiefly preva- 
lent in Andalusia, where, indeed, they most 
abound ; and more, especially in the town of 
Seville, the capital of the province, where, in 
the barrio or Faubourg of Triana, a large Gi- 
tano colony has long flourished, with the de- 
nizens of which it is at all times easy to have 
intercourse, especially to those who are free 
of their money, and are willing to purchase 
such a gratification at the expense of dollars 
and pesetas. 

When we consider the character of the 
Andalusians in general, we shall find little to 
surprise us in this predilection for the Gitanos. 
They are an indolent frivolous people, fond 
of dancing and song, and sensual amusements. 
They live under the most glorious sun and 
benign heaven in Europe, and their country 
is by nature rich and fertile, yet in no pro- 
vince of Spain is there more beggary and 
misery ; the greatest part of the land being un- 
cultivated, and producing nothing but thorns 
and brushwood, affording in itself a striking 
emblem of the moral state of its inhabitants. 

Though not destitute of talent, the Anda- 
'usians are not much addicted to intellectual 
pursuits, at least in the present day. The 
person in most esteem among them is inva- 
riably the greatest majo, and to acquire that 
character it is necessary to appear in the dress j 
of a Merry Andrew, to bully, swagger, and \ 
smoke continually, to dance passably, and 
to strum the guitar. They are fond of 
obscenity and what they term picardias. 
Amongst them learning is at a terrible dis- 1 
count, Greek, Latin, or any of the languages 
generally termed learned, being considered 1 
in any light but accomplishments, though 
not so the possession of thieves' slang or the J 
dialect of the Gitanos, the knowledge of a 



few words of which invariably creates a cer- 
tain degree of respect, as indicating that the 
individual is somewhat versed in that kind 
of life or trato for which alone the Andalu- 
sians have any kind of regard. 

In Andalusia the Gitano has been studied 
by those who, for various reasons, have min- 
gled with the Gitanos. It is tolerably well 
understood by the chalanes, or jockeys, who 
have picked up many words in the fairs and 
market-places which the former frequent. 
It has, however, been cultivated to a greater 
degree by other individuals, who have sought 
the society of the Gitanos from a zest for their 
habits, their dances, and their songs ; and 
such individuals have belonged to all classes, 
amongst them noblemen and members of the 
priestly order. 

Perhaps no people in Andalusia have been 
more addicted in general to the acquaintance 
of the Gitanos than the friars, and pre-emi- 
nently amongst these the half jockey, half 
religious personages of the Cartujan convent 
at Xeres. This community, now suppressed, 
was, as is well known, in possession of a 
celebrated breed of horses, which fed in the 
pastures of the convent, and from which 
they derived no inconsiderable part of their 
revenue. These reverend gentlemen seem 
to have been much better versed ' in the 
points of a horse than in points of theology, 
and to have understood thieves' slang and 
Gitano far better than the language of the 
Vulgate. A chalan, who had some know- 
ledge of the Gitano, related to me the fol- 
lowing singular anecdote in connexion with 
this subject. 

He had occasion to go to the convent, 
having been long in treaty with the friars for 
a steed which he had been commissioned by 
a nobleman to buy at any reasonable price. 
The friars, however, were exorbitant in their 
demands. On arriving at the gate, he sang 
to the friar who opened it, a couplet which 
he had composed in the Gypsy tongue, in 
which he stated the highest price which he 
was authorized to give for the animal in 
question; whereupon the friar instantly an- 
swered in the same tongue in an extempo- 
rary couplet full of abuse of him and his ern- 
ployer, and forthwith slammed the door in 
the" face of the disconcerted jockey. 



SPURIOUS GYTSY POETRY. 



99 



An Augustine friar of Seville, called, u -e 
believe, Father Manso, who lived some tw c nty 
years ago, is still remembered for his passion 
for the Gitanos; he seemed to be under the 
influence of fascination, and passed every 
moment that he could steal from his clerical 
occupations, in their company. His conduct 
at last became so notorious that he fell under 
the censure of the Inquisition, before which 
he was summoned ; whereupon he alleged, 
in his defence, that his sole motive for follow- 
ing the Gitanos was zeal for their spiritual 
conversion. Whether this plea availed him 
we know not ; but it is probable that the Holy 
Office dealt mildly with him; such offenders, 
indeed, had never much to fear from it. Had 
he been accused of liberalism, or searching 
into the Scriptures, instead of connexion 
with the Gitanos, we should, doubtless, have 
heard either of his execution or imprison- 
ment for life in the cells of the cathedral of 
Seville. 

Such as are thus addicted to the Gitanos 
and their language, are called, in Andalusia, 
Los del' Aficion, or those of the predilection. 
These people have, during the last fifty years, 
composed a spurious kind of Gypsy literature: 
we call it spurious because it did not originate 
with the Gitanos, who are, moreover, utterly 
unacquainted with it, and to whom it would 
be for the most part unintelligible. It is 
somewhat difficult to conceive the reason 
which induced these individuals to attempt 
such compositions ; the only probable one 
seems to have been a desire to display to 
each other their skill in the language of 
their predilection. It is right, however, to 
observe, that most of these compositions, 
with respect to language, are highly absurd, 
the greatest liberties being taken with the 
words picked up amongst the Gitanos, of the 
true meaning of which, the writers, in many 
instances, seem to have been entirely igno- 
rant. From what we can learn, the com- 
posers of this literature flourished chiefly at 
the commencement of the present century: 
Father Manso is said to have been one of the 
last. Many of their compositions, which are 
both in poetry and prose, exist in manuscript 
in a compilation made by one Luis Lobo. It 
has never been our fortune to see this com- 
pilation, which, indeed, we scarcely regret, 
as a rather curious circumstance has afforded 
us a perfect knowledge of its contents. 

Whilst at Seville, chance made us acquaint- 
ed with a highly extraordinary individual, a 
tall, bony, meagre figure, in a tattered Anda- 
lusian hat, ragged capote, and still more 
ragged pantaloons, and seemingly between 



I forty and fifty years of age. The only ap- 
pellation to which he answered was Manuel. 
His occupation, at the time we knew him, 
was sellingftickets for the lottery, by which 
he obtained a miserable livelihood in Seville 
and the neighbouring villages. His appear- 
ance was altogether wild and uncouth, and 
there was an insane expression in his eye. 
Observing us one day in conversation with a 
Gitana, he addressed us, and we soon found 
that the sound of the Gitana language had 
struck a chord which vibrated through the 
depths of his soul. His history was remark- 
able; in his early youth a manuscript copy 
of the compilation of Luis Lobo had fallen 
into his hands. This book had so taken hold 
of his imagination, that he studied it night 
and day until he had planted it in his memory 
from beginning to end; but in so doing, his 
brain, likethatof the hero of Cervantes, had 
become dry and heated, so that he was unfitted 
for any serious or useful occupation. After 
the death of his parents he wandered about 
the streets in great distress, until at last he 
fell into the hands of certain toreros or bull- 
fighters, who kept him about them, in order 
that he might repeat to them the songs of 
the Aficion. They subsequently carried him 
to Madrid, where, however, they soon desert- 
ed him after he had experienced much bru- 
tality from their hands. He returned to Se- 
ville, and soon became the inmate of a mad- 
house, where he continued several years. 
Having partially recovered from his malady 
he was liberated, and wandered about as be- 
fore. During the cholera at Seville, when 
nearly twenty thousand human beings pe- 
rished, he was appointed conductor of one 
of the death-carts, which went through the 
streets for the purpose of picking up the dead 
bodies. His perfect inoffensiveness eventu- 
ally procured him friends, and he obtained 
the situation of vender of lottery tickets. 
He frequently visited us, and would then re- 
cite long passages from the work of Lobo. 
He was wont to say that he was the only one 
in Seville, at the present day, acquainted with 
the language of the Aficion ; for though there 
were many pretenders, their knowledge was 
confined to a few words. 

From the recitation of this individual, we 
wrote down the Brijindope or Deluge, and 
the poem on the plague which broke out in 
Seville in the year 1800. These, and some 
songs of less consequence, constitute the poe- 
tical part of the compilation in question ; the 
rest, which is in prose, consisting chiefly of 
translations from the Spanish, of proverbs 
and religious pieces. 



iu ur u, 



BRIOTDOPE.-THE DELUGE. 



A POEM, IN TWO PARTS. 



BRIJ1ND0PE, 



BROTOBA PAJIN. 

Dajirando presimelo 
Abillar la pelabru ; 

Y manguelarle camelo 
A la Beluni de otarpe, 
Nu inerique sos terelo 
De soscabar de siarias, 
Persos menda ne chanelo 
Sata niquillar de ondoba, 

Y an dial lo fendi grobelo 
Sin utilarme misto: 
Men crejete orobibelo 
Dicando trincha henira 
Sata aocana nacardelo, 
Delos chiros naquelaos. 

Y aocana man presimelo 
On sandani de Ostebe 

Y desquero day darabemos, 
Sos sin nonrro longono: 
Jinare lo sos chanelo, 
Sasta Ostebe se abichola 

Y le penelo a Noyme: 
Tran quifiado soscabelo; 
Ies Estarica queraras, 
Sos or surdan dicabelo 
Tran najabao, y andial 
Quera lo sos man te pendo, 
Sos se ennagren persos man 
La Janro en la Bas terelo: 

Y Noyme pendaba a golis: 
Sos se ennagreis os penelo, 
Sos dico saro or surdan 
Najabao y lo prejeno; 
Ostebe nu lo dichaba, 

Per lo trincha lo penelo. 

Y saros se sarrasiran : 
Sos duquipen dicobelo! 
Los Brochabos le bucharan 
E nonro Bato, y diquelo 

A saros persibaraos : 
La Erandia la dicobelo 
Bartrabe de su costuri 

Y or Erajay — presimelo 
A jinar sata Ostebe 
Yes minricla dichabelo 
Sar yes simachcs bare — 
Sin trincha dan sos terelo 
Dicando los Lariandcscs 
Tran bares sos me merelo, 
Dicando saro or surdan 
Tran jurune dan terelo, 

100 



THE DELUGE. 



PART THE FIRST. 

I with fear and terror quake, 
Whilst the pen to write I take ; 
I will utter many a pray'r 
To the heaven's Regent fair, 
That she deign to succour me, 
And I'll humbly bend my knee ; 
For but poorly do I know 
With my subject on to go ; 
Therefore is my wisest plan 
Not to trust in strength of man. 
I my heavy sins bewail, 
Whilst 1 view the wo and wail 
Handed down so solemnly 
In the books of times gone by. 
Onward, onward, now I'll move 
In the name of Christ above, 
And his Mother true and dear, 
She who loves the wretch to cheer. 
All I know, and all I've heard 
f will state — how God appear'd, 
And to Noah thus did cry; 
Weary with the world am I; 
Let an ark by thee be built, 
For the world is lost in guilt; 
And when thou hast built it well, 
Loud proclaim what now I tell : 
Straight repent ye, for your Lord 
In his hand doth hold a sword. 
And good Noah thus did call : 
Straight repent ye, one and all, 
For the world with grief I see 
Lost in vileness utterly. 
God's own mandate I but do, 
He hath sent me unto you. 
Laugh'd the world with bitter scorn 
I his cruel sufferings mourn ; 
Brawny youths with furious air 
Drag the Patriarch by the hair ■ 
Lewdness governs every one : 
Leaves her convent now the nun, 
And the monk abroad I see 
Practising iniquity. 
Now I'll tell how God, intent 
To avenge, a vapour sent, 
With full many a dreadful sign — 
Mighty, mighty fear is mine : 
As I hoar the thunders roll, 
Seems to die my very soul ; 
As I Pfe the world o'erspread 
All with darkness thick and dread ; 



THE DELUGE. 



101 



Y ne camelara mend a, 
Trincha sata orobibelo 
Chalabear la pelabru 

On la opuchen sos terelo 

De soscabar libanando — 

Per los barbanes junelo 

Butes benges balogando, 

Pendando a golis bares 

Ochardilo terelamos ; 

Aocana sin la ocana 

Sosque sinastra queramos. 

Dajiralo sos punis. 

Dicar las queles petrando, 

A butes las chibiben 

Les nicaba merelando, 

Persos los cotos bares 

A butes guilla marando ; 

Ne sindo lo chorro ondoba, 

Sos aocana presimando 

Las minrriclas bus pani 

On or surdan techescando, 

De chibel y de rachi nardian tesumiando. 

Sos perplejo tranbare ! 

Saros a Ostebe acarando 

A nonrria day y Erani — 

Chi de ondoba ne molando, 

Per socabar Ostebe 

Sar los murciales sustiiiaos. 

O henira tran bare 

A golis saros pendando; 

Chapescando nasti chanan 

De or rifian sos dicando 

Flima a flima bus pajes ; 

La chen se cha pirrandando : 

Se quimpifia la sueste 

Sos niquilla chapescando, 

E isna longono caute ; 

Bute pani brijindando ; 

Saros los perifuyes 

De los jebis niquillando : 

Or jabuno y jabufii 

On toberjeli guillando ; 

La Julistraba y chaplica 

Se encaloman per lo sasto ; 

Chiribito y tejuni, 

Y oripatia pirelando, 

Ne chanan sosque chibarse, 

Y se muquelan tasaos. 
Gollori, braco y braqui — 
Los jurus catabranando, 

Y or batane y Jabuni, 
On or chasno an sustifiao 
Bajilache y Baluni, 

Los duis se an cataneaos : 
Chelendres y Bombardos, 
De or rifian chapescando; 
La sorjia sar los chabales, 
Tramisto cha platanando ; 
Or chinoje y Jerini, 
Choro y choria acareando, 
La andalula y or Jojoy, 
Per or dron cataneaos ; 
Los grates y los gadujos, 
De chapescar tesumiaron— 
On yes pray se catanan, 

Y aoter catane mucaron ; 
Escotria en Pavel pajin, 
Pendare lo sos queraron. 



I the pen can scarcely ply 
For the tears which dim my eye, 
And o'ercome with grievous wo, 
Fear the task I must forego 
I have purposed to perform. — 
Hark, I hear upon the storm 
Thousand, thousand devils fly, 
Who with awful howlings cry: 
Now's the time, and now's the hour 
We have license, we have power 
To obtain a glorious prey. — 
I with horror turn away; 
Tumbles house and tumbles wall ; 
Thousand lose their lives and all, 
Voiding curses, screams, and groans 
For the beams, the bricks, and stones 
Bruise and bury all below — 
Nor is that the worst, I trow, 
For the clouds begin to pour 
Floods of water, more and more, 
Down upon the world with might, 
Never pausing day or night. 
Now in terrible distress 
All to God their cries address, 
And his Mother dear adore, — 
But the time of grace is o'er, 
For the Almighty in the sky 
Holds his hand upraised on high. 
Now's the time of madden'd rout 
Hideous cry, despairing shout ; 
Whither, whither shall they fly? 
For the danger threat'ningly 
Draweth near on every side, 
And the earth, that's opening wide, 
Swallows thousands in its womb, 
Who would 'scape the dreadful doom. 
Of dear hope exists no gleam, 
Still the water down doth stream ; 
Ne'er so little a creeping thing, 
But from out its hole doth spring 
See the mouse, and see its mate 
Scour along, nor stop nor wait ; 
See the serpent and the snake,; 
For the nearest highlands make ; 
The tarantula I view, 
Emmet small, and cricket too, 
All unknowing where to fly, 
In the stifling waters die. 
See the goat and bleating sheep, 
See the bull with bellowings deep, 
And the rat with squealings shrill, 
They have mounted on the hill : 
See the stag, and see the doe, 
How together fond they go : 
Lion, tiger-beast, and pard, 
To escape are striving hard : 
Followed by her little ones, 
See the hare how swift she runs : 
Asses he and she, a pair, 
Mute and mule with bray and blare, 
And the rabbit and the fox, 
Hurry over stones and rocks 
With the grunting hog and horse, 
Till at last they stop their course — 
On the summit of the hill 
All assembled stand they still ; 
In the second part I'll tell, 
Unto them what there befell. 



14 



K 



102 



THE ZINCALI, 



BRIJINDOPE, 



REBLANDUY PAJIN 

Bus muque la avel pajin, 
Dine carema a or surdan 
De pendar sata guillo 
Or janbri sar la Pastia 
La Cremen y or Piribicho, 
Saros se guillon aotar, 
On lay Pray se catanan 
Bus dicaron abillar 
Or Bispibi y Coligote, 

Y la Anis sar la Macha; 
Or Chilindrote y Lore, 

Y or Cacarabi apala ; 
Ballestero y Ballestera, 
Curraco tramisto cha; 
Catacolla y Escobiche 
Balogan per or barban ; 
Ne berjan sosque urdifarse, 
Per soscabar or surdan 
Saro perdo de pani ; 

Se petran y se tasaban : . 
"Guillemos a monrro Bato!" 
Sos la Estarica pirranda, 
Chibelando enrre a saros 
Perifuyes y los garaba, 
De cata yesque yes cro ; 
Tramisto chibelo aotar 
Desquero sueste, y cotria 
La Estarica la panda. 
De saros ha chibelado,. 

Y garabaos aotar. 

On los sastos de la pray 
La pani begorea otar ; 
Naquelao bin chibeles, 
La Estarica sustiria, 
La legera aupre y aostele, 
Sata yes buchi basta. 
Diquemos sos duquipen, 
Per la pani nofiabar 
Trincha los drupos mules, 
Sos ne se asislan jinar ! 
O duquipen tran bare, 
Sos se tasabo or surdan. 
Aunsos nasti sin saro, 
Flimas se muquelaran, 
Pa en camelando Ostebe 
Linbidien a perbarar 
Avel sueste bufendi, 
Pa querar demo surdan 
Sos archaben a Ostebe. 

Y aocana canbro pendar, 
Sueste de andoba chiro, 
Ennagrabarse, y dicar 
Sos oclinde sia pafii 
Aocana sen bus basta 
Sos pendan los Manjaros 
Se remarara or surdan 
On llaquele retablejiendo, 

Y flacha se querara. 



THE DELUGE. 



PART THE SECOND. 

When I last did bid farewell, 
I proposed the world to tell, 
Higher as the Deluge flow'd, 
How the frog and how the toad, 
With the lizard and the efte, 
All their holes and coverts left, 
And assembled on the height ; 
Soon I ween appear'd in sight 
All that's wings beneath the sky, 
Bat and swallow, wasp and fly, 
Gnat and sparrow, and behind 
Comes the crow of carrion kind ; 
Dove and pigeon are descried, 
And the raven fiery-eyed, 
With the beetle and the crane 
Flying on the hurricane : 
See they find no resting-place, 
For the world's terrestrial space 
Is with water cover'd o'er, 
Soon they sink to rise no more : 
" To our father let us flee !" 
Straight the ark-ship openeth he, 
And to every thing that lives 
Kindly he admission gives, 
Of all kinds a single pair, 
And the members safely there 
Of his house he doth embark, 
Then at once he shuts the ark ; 
Every thing therein has pass'd, 
There he keeps them safe and fast. 
O'er the mountain's topmost peak 
Now the raging waters break. 
Till full twenty days are o'er, 
'Midst the elemental roar, 
Up and down the ark forlorn, 
Like some evil thing is borne : 
O what grief it is to see 
Swimming on the enormous sea 
Human corses pale and white, 
More, alas! than 1 can write : 
O what grief, what grief profound 
But to think the world is drown'd ; 
True a scanty few are left, 
All are not of life bereft, 
So that, when the Lord ordain, 
They may procreate again, 
In a world entirely new, 
Better people and more true, 
To their Maker who shall bow; 
And I humbly beg ye now. 
Ye in modern times who wend, 
That your lives ye do amend; 
For no wat'ry punishment, 
But a heavier shall be 6ent; 
For the blessed saints pretend 
That the latter world shall end 
To tremendous fire a prey, 
And to ashes sink away. 



THE DELUGE. 



103 



A la Estarica linbidio 
Sos pira per or surdan 
Najabada, y Ostebe 
Los camela listramar: 
Yes callico pirrandaron 
Yesque besni per dicar 
De otarpe la simachi ; 
Pa orondar or surdan 
Sublirnan la Ballestera ; 

Y a las duis canas le an 
Yesque corbi de eruquel, 
On or punsabo alala. 
Pendan dinelando golis, 
'* Sos terelamos surdan.' 
Begorean a yes pray ; 

Y bus se dican aotar, 
Saros panelan on Chen 
De siarias per dinar 
Las sardanis a Ostebe , 

Y se camelan guillar 
Yesque lacri y yesque lacro, 
A perbarar or surdan, 

A or sichen Corajafio. — 
Avel cro tramisto cha 
A la chen del Gabine ; 
Saros guillan andial 
Querando nevel sueste. 
Ondoba panchabaras, 
Sos lo muco libanado 
Nonrro Bato, y andia! 
Abillo de yesque avel 
Pa enjalle per or surdan. 
Man soscabo manguelando 
Estormen pa libanar 
A saros lo sos chanaren 
Chipi Cayi araquerar ; 

Y la Debel de Ineriqu 
Me dine la sardafia, 
Sos me quera farsilaja, 
E ochipa. Anarania. 



To the Ark I now go back 

Which pursues its dreary track 

Lost and 'wilder'd till the Lord 

In his mercy rest accord. 

Early of a morning tide 

They unclosed a window wide, 

Heaven's beacon to descry , 

And a gentle dove let fly, 

Of the world to seek some trace, 

And in two short hours' space 

It returns with eyes that glow, 

In its beak an olive bough. 

With a loud and mighty sound. 

They exclaim: "The world we've found. 

To a mountain nigh they drew 

And when there themselves they view, 

Bound they swiftly on the shore, 

And their fervent thanks outpour 

Lowly kneeling to their God , 

Then their way a couple trod, 

Man and woman, hand in hand, 

Bent to populate the land, 

To the Moorish region fair — 

And another two repair 

To the country of the Gaul ; 

In this manner wend they all 

And the seeds of nations lay. 

I beseech ye'll credence pay, 

For our father, high and sage, 

Wrote the tale in sacred page, 

As a record to the world, 

Record sad of vengeance hurl'd. 

I, a low and humble wight, 

Beg permission now to write 

Unto all that in our land 

Tongue Egyptian understand: 

May our Virgin Mother mild 

Grant to me, her erring child, 

Plenteous grace in every way 

And success. Amen I say. 



LA KETREQUE.-THE PESTILENCE. 



A POEM COMMEMORATIVE OF THE PLAGUE WHICH BROKE OUT AT SEVILLE IN THE 

YEAR 1800. 



LA RETREQUE, 



Man camelo libanar, 
Pa enjalle on chipi Cale, 
Saro lo sos chunde6 J 
On caba Foro bare. 

On or brege de ostor gres, 
On macara llacuno, 
Tenblesquero sustifio 
La bate tabastorre 
Sar ies griba tranbare, 
Dinelando a jabelar 
Sos camelaba Hilar 
Jina de monria puchel. 
Pa difielar irsimen 
Man camelo libanar. 

Dajirando on la retreque 
Se ennagro saro or surdan' 

Y aocana sen bus bastas 
On or surdan los crejetes, 
Per socabar la sueste 
Chanorgaos de Ostebe, 
Sata unga la beriben 

Se udicara merelao ; 
Per ondoba e libanao 
Pa enjalle on chipi Cale. 

De niquillar a la olicha 
Difielaba duquipen, 
On dicar trincha mule 
Sueste on la ferminicha; 
Flimas a la banbanicha 
Guillan a tapillar mol, 
Per soscabar nasalos— 
Difielaba alangari : 
Sian canrrias y Pufiis 
Saro lo sos chundeo. 

La sueste a or drobardo 
Guillan orobibelando 
Per la olicha manguelando 
Estormen a or Erano ; 

Y los cangollos perdos 
Mustinando los mules 
Bartrabes a oltarique — 
Sos duquipen sia, Erais, 
Ne dicar ies Arajay 

On caba foro bare. 
104 



THE PESTILENCE, 



I'm resolved now to tell, 
In the speech of Gypsy-land, 
All the horror that befell 
In this city huge and grand. 

In the eighteenth hundred year 
In the midst of summer tide, 
God, with man dissatisfied, 
His right hand on high did rear, 
With a rigour most severe ; 
Whence we well might understand 
He would strict account demand 
Of our lives and actions here. 
The dread event to render clear 
Now the pen I take in hand. 

At the dread event aghast, 

Straight the world reform'd its course ; 

Yet is sin in greater force, 

Now the punishment is past; 

For the thought of God is cast 

All and utterly aside, 

As if death itself had died. 

Therefore to the present race 

These memorial lines I trace 

In old Egypt's tongue of pride. 

As the streets you wander'd through 
How you quail'd with fear and dread, 
Heaps of dying and of dead 
At the leeches' door to view. 
To the tavern O-how few 
To regale on wine repair ; 
All a sickly aspect wear. 
Say what heart such sights could brook- 
Wail and wo where'er you look — 
Wail and wo and ghastly care. 

Plying fast their rosaries, 
See the people pace the street, 
And for pardon God entreat 
Long and loud with streaming eyes. 
And the carts of various size, 
Pil'd with corses, high in air, 
To the plain their burden bear. 
O what grief it is to me 
Not a friar or priest to see 
In this city huge and fair. 



THE PRAISE OE BUDDH. 

METEMPSYCHOSIS. 



It ub scarcely' necessary to apologize for the insertion, in tnis place, of the 
following poem, which contains the creed of the Buddhists. In many por- 
tions of the present work, allusion has been made to the want of any fixed 
or certain, religious opinions amongst the Gypsies, since their appearance in 
Europe. Of their original religion, whatever it was, no vestige seems to re- 
main, save some vague ideas of metempsychosis, which are still occasionally 
to be found amongst them in England and in Russia, and the remembrance 
of which has not altogether disappeared from those of Spain. India is the 
proper home of that superstition, from whence, by the transmigration of na- 
tions, or by other circumstances, it was conveyed, at an early period, to more 
westerly regions, where it subsequently fell into total discredit. At present 
no trace of it is found in the West, except amongst the Gypsies, whose arri- 
val dates from a very modern period. 

This attachment of the Gypsy race to metempsychosis, or even their re- 
membrance of it, is one of the distinguishing marks of their Indian extrac- 
tion. It pertains as much to India, as do their complexions, and the broken 
jargon which they speak: it connects them with Buddh and Brahma. The 
wild dream of spiritual wandering through millions of ages, even through 
calaps, when the world itself goes to wreck, till, by enormous penance and 
mortification, the state is attained where there is no pain, no birth, and no 
death, forms an essential part of the two great religious systems of India. 
It is with the view of affording the reader some idea of what the original re- 
ligion of the Gypsies may possibly have been, that we lay before him a 
synopsis of Buddhism, contained in a brief but singularly comprehensive 
hymn to Buddh, or, as he is called by the Tartars, the Great Foutsa, who 
seems to have been the father of religious imposture, and whose system was 
subsequently modified by Brahma for the worse. 

The Gypsies know not Buddh by name, but they unconsciously acknow- 
ledge him when they declare, as they have been known to do, that it is use- 
less to execute them as they cannot die; for such doctrine is his own, and 
from him it sprang. In the following hymn the transmigration of souls is 
distinctly alluded to: the human or dragon spirit, bereft of kindred, solitary 
and desolate, may discover the spot where its parents and kindred have been 
born again, and rejoin them by paying reverence to Buddh — as individual 
Gypsies have said, that however the souls of their race may go a- wandering 
they are sure to rejoin each other at last. This hymn is chanted in their 
respective languages by Buddhists of most lands, by the Chinese and Cinga- 
lese, by the Mongolians, and by the present lords of China, the Mandchou 
Tartars, and it is from the Mandchou that the present version has been made. 

k2 105 



POEM 



RELATING TO THE WORSHIP OF THE GREAT FOUTSA OR BUDDH. 



Should I Foutsa's force and glory, 

Earth's protector, all unfold, 
Through more years would last my story, 

Than has Ganges' sands of gold. 
Him the fitting reverence showing, 

For a moment's period, brings 
Ceaseless blessing, overflowing, 

Unto all created things. 
If from race of man descended, 

Or from dragon's kingly line, 
Thou dost dread, when life is ended, 

Deep in sin to sink and pine — 
If thou seek great Foutsa ever, 

With a heart devoid of guile, 
He the mists of sin shall sever, 

All before thee bright shall smile. 
Whosoe'er his parents losing, 

From his earliest infancy, 
Cannot guess, with all his musing, 

Where their spirits now may be ; 
He who sister dear nor brother, 

Since the sun upon him shone, 
And of kindred all the other 

Shoots and branches ne'er has known — 
If of Foutsa Grand the figure 

He shall shape and colour o'er, 
Gaze upon it rapt and eager, 

And with fitting rites adore, 
And through twenty days shall utter 

The dread name with reverent fear, 
Foutsa huge of form shall flutter 

Round about him and appear, 
And to him the spot discover 

Where his kindred breathe again, 
And though evils whelm them over, 

Straight release them from their pain, 
If that man, unchang'd still keeping, 

From backsliding shall refrain, \ 
lie, by Foutsa touch'd when sleeping, 

Shall Biwangarit's title gain. 
If to Bouddi's elevation 

He would win, and from the three 
Confines dark of tribulation 

Soar to light and liberty; 
When a heart with kindness glowing 

He within him shall descry, 
To Grand Foutsa's image going, 

Let him gaze attentively; 
Soon his every wish acquiring 

He shall triumph glad and fain 
And the shades of sin retiring 

Never more his soul restrain. 
Whosoever bent on speeding 

To that distant shore, the home 
106 



Of the wise, shall take to reading 

The all-wondrous Soudra* tome; 
If that study deep beginning 

No fit preparation made, 
Scanty shall he find his winning, 

Straight forgetting what he's read ; 
Whilst he in the dark subjection 

Shall of shadowing sin remain, 
Soudra's page of full perfection 

How shall he in mind retain ? 
Unto him the earth who blesses, 

Unto Foutsa, therefore he 
Drink and incense, food and dresses 

Should up-offer plenteously; 
And the fountain's limpid liquor 

Pour Grand Foutsa's face before, 
Drain himself a cooling beaker 

When a day and night are o'er; 
Tune his heart to high devotion ; 

The five evil things eschew, 
Lust and flesh and vinous potion, 

And the words which are not true ; 
Living thing abstain from killing 

For full twenty days and one ; 
And meanwhile with accents thrilling 

Mighty Foutsa call upon — 
Then of infinite dimension 

Foutsa's form in dreams he'll see, 
And if he with fix'd attention, 

When his sleep dissolv'd shall be, 
Shall but list to Soudra's volume, 

He, through thousand ages flight, 
Shall of Soudra's doctrine solemn 

Ne'er forget one portion slight ; 
Yes, a soul so richly gifted 

Every child of man can find, 
If to mighty Foutsa lifted 

He but keep his heart and mind. 
He who views his cattle falling 

Unto fierce disease a prey 
Hears his kindred f round him brawling, 

Never ceasing night nor day, 
Who can find no rest in slumber 

From excess of grief and pain, 
And whose prayers, in countless number 

Though they rise, are breathed in vain — 
To earth favouring Foutsa's figure 

If but reverence he shall pay, 

* The Sacred Codex of the Buddhists, which contains 
the canons of their religion. 

f Literally, in whose house bones are breaking and cuts 
occurring MntamoUy. In the metaphorical language of 
the Chinese and Tartars, who profess the Buddhic re- 
ligion, the flesh and bone of a man stand for his kin- 
dred. 



THE PRAISE OF BUDDH. 



107 



Dire misfortune's dreadful rigour 

Flits for ever and for aye : 
No domestic broils distress him, 

And of nought he knows the want ; 
Cattle, corn, and riches bless him, 

Which the favouring demons grant. 
Those, who sombre forests threading, 

Those, who sailing ocean's plain, 
Fain would wend their way undreading 

Evil poisons, beasts, and men, 
Evil spirits, demons, javals, 

And the force of evil winds, 
And each ill, which he who travels 

In his course so frequent finds, — 
Let them only take their station 

'Fore the form of Foutsa Grand, 
On it gaze with adoration, 

Sacrifice with reverent hand, 
And within the forest gloomy, 

On the mountain or the vale, 
On the ocean wide and roomy, 

Them no evil shall assail. 
Thou, who every secret knowest 



Foutsa, hear my heartfelt pray'r; 
Thou who earth such favour showest, 

How shall I thy praise declare? 
If with cataract's voice the story 

I through million calaps roar, 
Yet of Foutsa's force and glory 

I may not the sum outpour. 
Whosoe'er the title learning 

Of the earth's protector high, 
Shall whene'er his form discerning, 

On it gaze with steadfast eye, 
And at times shall offer dresses, 

Offer fitting drink and food, 
He ten thousand joys possesses, 

And escapes each trouble rude ; 
Whoso into deed shall carry 

Of the law each precept, he 
Through all time alive shall tarry, 

And from birth and death be free . 
Foutsa, thou, who best of any 

Know'st the truth of what I've told, 
Spread the tale through regions many 

As the Ganges' sands of gold. 



ON THE 



LANGUAGE OF THE GITANOS. 



"I am not very willing that any language should be totally extinguished; the similitude and derivation of lan- 
guages afford the most indubitable proof of the traduction of nations, and the genealogy of mankind: they add 
often physical certainty to historical evidence of ancient migrations, and of the revolutions of ages which left no 
written monuments behind them."— Johnson. 



The speech of the Gitanos, as it at present 
exists in Spain, though scarcely entitled to 
the appellation of a language, was, neverthe- 
less, at one period, the same which the first 
wanderers of the Romanian sect brought with 
them into Europe from the remote regions of 
the East. It may now be termed with more 
propriety the ruins of a language than the 
language itself, enabling, however, in its ac- 
tual state, the Gitanos to hold conversations 
amongst themselves, the import of which is 
quite dark and mysterious to those who are 
not of their race, or by some means have be- 
come acquainted with their vocabulary. The 
relics of this tongue, singularly curious in 
themselves, must be ever particularly inte- 
resting to the philological antiquarian, inas- 
much as they enable him to arrive at a satis- 
factory conclusion respecting the origin of 
the Gypsy race. During the latter part of 
the last century, the curiosity of some learned 
individuals, particularly Grellman, Richard- 
son, and Marsden, induced them to collect 
many words of the Romanian language, as 
spoken in Germany, Hungary, and England, 
which, upon analyzing, they discovered to be 
in general either pure Sanscrit or Hindus- 
tani words, or modifications thereof; these 
investigations have been continued to the 
present time by men of equal curiosity and 
no less erudition, the result of which has 
been the establishment of the fact that the 
Gypsies of those countries are the descend- 
ants of a tribe of Hindus, who, for some par- 
ticular reason, had abandoned their native 
country. In England, of late, the Gypsies 
have excited particular attention ; but a de- 
sire far more noble and laudable than mere 
antiquarian curiosity has given rise to it, 
namely, the desire of propagating the glory 
of Christ amongst those who know him not, 
and of saving souls from the jaws of the in- 
fernal wolf. It is, however, with the Gyp- 
sies of Spain, and not with those of England 
and other countries, that we are now occu- 
pied, and we shall merely mention the latter 
so far as they may serve to elucidate the case 
of the Gitanos, their brethren by blood and 
language. Spain for many centuries has been 
the country of error; she has mistaken stern 
108 



and savage tyranny for rational government; 
base, low, and grovelling superstition for 
clear, bright, and soul-ennobling religion; 
sordid cheating she has considered as the 
path to riches; vexatious persecution as the 
path to power; and the consequence has 
been that she is now poor and powerless, a 
pagan amongst the pagans, with a dozen 
kings, and with none. Can we be surprised, 
therefore, that, mistaken in policy, religion, 
and moral conduct, she should have fallen 
into an error on points so naturally dark and 
mysterious as the history and origin of those 
remarkable people, whom for the last four 
hundred years she has supported under the 
name of Gitanos? The idea entertained at 
the present day in Spain respecting this race 
is, that they are the descendants of the Mo- 
riscos who remained in Spain, wandering 
about amongst the mountains and wilder- 
nesses, after the expulsion of the great body 
of the nation from the country in the time of 
Philip the Third, and that they form a dis- 
tinct body, entirely unconnected with the 
wandering tribes known in other countries 
by the names of Bohemians, Gypsies, &c. 
This, like all unfounded opinions, of course 
originated in ignorance, which is always 
ready to have recourse to conjecture and 
guess-work, in preference to travelling 
through the long, mountainous, and stony 
road of patient investigation ; it is, however, 
an error far more absurd and more destitute 
of tenable grounds than the ancietit belief 
that the Gitanos were Egyptians, which they 
themselves have always professed to be, and 
which the original written documents which 
they brought with them on their first arrival 
in western Europe, and which bore the sig- 
nature of the king of Bohemia, expressly 
stated them to be. The only clue to arrive 
at any certainty respecting their origin, is 
the language which they still speak amongst 
themselves ; but before we can avail ourselves 
of the evidence of this language, it will be 
necessary to make a few remarks respecting 
the principal languages and dialects of that 
immense tract of country, peopled by at least 
eighty millions of humt>n beings, generally 
known by the name of Hindustan, two Per- 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE GITANOS. 



109 



sian words tantamount to the land of Ind, or, 
the land watered by the river Indus. 

The most celebrated of these languages is 
the Samskrida, or, as it is known in Europe, 
the Sanscrit, which is the language of reli- 
gion of all those nations, amongst whom the 
faith of Brahma has been adopted ; but though 
the language of religion, by which we mean 
the tongue in which the religious books of 
the Brahmanic sect were originally written 
and are still preserved, it has long since 
ceased to be a spoken language; indeed, 
history is silent as to any period when it was 
a language in common use amongst any of 
the various tribes of the Hindus ; its know- 
ledge, as far as reading and writing it went, 
having been entirely confined to the priests 
of Brahma, or Brahmans, until within the 
last half century, when the British, having 
subjugated the whole of Hindustan, caused 
it to be openly taught in the colleges which 
they established for the instruction of their 
youth in the languages of the country. 
Though sufficiently difficult to acquire, prin- 
tffially on account of its prodigious richness 
BRpynonymes, it is no longer a sealed lan- 
guage, its laws, structure, and vocabulary 
being sufficiently well known by means of 
numerous elementary works, adapted to faci- 
litate its study. It has been considered by 
several famous philologists as the mother not 
only of all the languages of Asia, but of all 
others in the world. So wild and prepos- 
terous an idea, however, only serves to prove 
that a devotion to philology, whose principal 
object should be the expansion of the mind 
by the various treasures of learning and wis- 
dom which it can unlock, sometimes only 
tends to its bewilderment, by causing it to 
embrace shadows for reality. The most that 
can be allowed, in reason, to the Sanscrit, is 
that it is the mother of a certain class or fa- 
mily of languages, for example, those spoken 
in Hindustan, with which most of the Euro- 
pean, whether of the Sclavonian, Gothic, or 
Celtic stock, have some connexion. True it 
is that in this case we know not how to dis- 
pose of the ancient Zend, the mother of the 
modern Persian, the language in which were 
written those writings generally attributed to 
Zerduscht, or Zoroaster, whose affinity to 
the said tongues is as easily established as 
that of the Sanscrit, and which, in respect to 
antiquity, may well dispute the palm with its 
Indian rival. Avoiding, however, the discus- 
sion of this point, we shall content ourselves 
with observing, that closely connected with 
the Sanscrit, if not derived from it, are the 
Bengali, the high Hindustani, or grand po- 
pular language of Hindustan, generally used 
by the learned in their intercourse and 
writings, the languages of Multan, Guzerat, 
and other provinces, without mentioning the 
mixed dialect called Mongolian Hindustani, 
a corrupt jargon of Persian, Turkish, Arabic, 
and Hindu words, first used by the Mongols, 
after the conquest, in their intercourse with 
the natives. Many of the principal languages 
of Asia are totally unconnected with the San- 
15 



scrit, both in words and grammatical struc- 
ture; these are mostly of the great Tartar 
family, at the head of which there is good 
reason for placing the Chinese and Tibetian. 

Bearing the same analogy to the Sanscrit 
tongue, as the Indian dialects specified above, 
we find the Rommany, or speech of the Roma, 
or Zincali, as they style themselves, known 
in England and Spain as Gypsies and Gita- 
nos. This speech, wherever it is spoken, is, 
in all principal points, one and the same, 
though more or less corrupted by foreign 
words, picked up in the various countries to 
which those who use it have penetrated. 
One remarkable feature must not be passed 
over without notice, namely, the very consi- 
derable number of pure Sclavonic, or Rus- 
sian words, which are to be found imbedded 
within it, whether it be spoken in Spain or 
Germany, in England or Italy; from which 
circumstance we are led to the conclusion, 
that these people, in their way from the East, 
travelled in one large compact body, and that 
their route lay through the steppes of Rus- 
sia, where they probably tarried for a consi- 
derable period, as nomade herdsmen, and 
where numbers of them are still to be found 
at the present day. Besides the many Scla- 
vonian words in the Gypsy tongue, another 
curious feature attracts the attention of the 
philologist— an equal or still greater quantity 
of terms from the modern Greek ; indeed, we 
have full warranty for assuming that *t one 
period the Gypsy nation, or at least the Spa- 
nish branch thereof, understood the Greek 
language well, and that, besides their own 
Indian dialect, they occasionally used it in 
Spain for considerably upwards of a century 
subsequent to their arrival, as amongst them 
there were individuals to whom it was intel- 
ligible so late as the year 1540. 

Where this knowledge was obtained it is 
difficult to say, perhaps in Bulgaria; that 
they did understand the Romaic in 1540, we 
gather from a very remarkable work called 
"El Estudioso Cortesa.no," written by Lo- 
renzo Palmireno; this learned and highly 
extraordinary individual was by birth a Va- 
lencian, and died, we believe, about 1580; 
he was professor at various universities — of 
rhetoric at Valencia, of Greek at Zaragossa, 
where he gave lectures, in which he explained 
the verses of Homer; he was a proficient in 
Greek, ancient and modern, and it should be 
observed that, in the passage which we are 
about to cite, he means himself by the learned 
individual who held conversation with the 
Gitanos. El Estudioso Cortesano was re- 
printed at Alcala in 1587, from which edition 
we now copy. 

" Who are the Gitanos ? I answer ; these 
vile people first began to show themselves in 
Germany, in the year 1417, where they call 
them Tartars or Gentiles; in Italy they are 
termed Ciani. They pretend that they came 
from Lower Egypt, and that they wander 
about as a penance, and to prove this they 
show letters from the king of Poland. Thev 
lie, however, for they do not lead the life of 



110 



THE ZIXCALI. 



penitents, but of dogs and thieves. A learned | 
person, in the year 1540, prevailed with! 
them, by dint of much persuasion, to show ! 
him the king's letter, and he gathered from 
it that the time of their penance was already 
expired ; he spoke to them in the Egyptian 
tongue ; they said, however, that as it was a 
long time since their departure from Egypt, 
they did not understand it; he then spoke to 
them in the vulgar Greek, such as is used at 
present in the Morea and Archipelago; some 
understood it, others did not ; so that as all did 
not understand it, we may conclude that the 
language which they use is a feigned one,* got 
up bythieves for the purpose of concealing their 
robberies, like the jargon of blind beggars.'' 

Still more abundant, however, than the 
mixture of Greek, still more abundant than 
the mixture of Sclavonian, is the alloy in the 
Gypsy language wherever spoken, of modern 
Persian words, which circumstance will com- 
pel us to offer a few remarks on the share 
which the Persian has had in the formation 
of the dialects of India, as at present spoken. 

The modern Persian, as has been already 
observed, is a daughter of the ancient Zend, 
and, as such, is entitled to claim affinity 
with the Sanscrit, and its dialects. With 
this language none in the world would be 
able to vie in simplicity and beauty, had not 
the Persians, in adopting the religion of Ma- 
homet, unfortunately introduced into their 
speech an infinity of words of the rude coarse 
language used by the barbaric Arab tribes, 
the immediate followers of the warlike Pro- 
phet. With the rise of Islam the modern 
Persian was doomed to be carried into India. 
This country, from the time of Alexander, 
had enjoyed repose from external aggression, 
had been ruled by its native princss, and 
been permitted by Providence to exercise, 
without control or reproof, the degrading 
superstitions, and the unnatural and bloody 
rites of a religion, at the formation of which 
the fiends of cruelty and lust seem to have 
presided ; but reckoning was now about to be 
demanded of the accursed ministers of this 
system for the pain, torture, and misery, 
which they had been instrumental in inflict- 
ing on their countrymen for the gratification 
of their avarice, filthy passions, and pride ; 
the new Mahometans were at hand — Arab, 
Persian, and Afghan, with the glittering 
scimitar upraised, full of zeal for the glory 
and adoration of the one high God, and the 
relentless persecutors of the idol-worshippers. 
Already, in the 426th year of the Hageira, 
we read of the destruction of the great 
Butkhan, or image-house of Sumnaut, by the 
armies of the far-conquering Mahmoud, when 
the dissevered heads of the Brahmans rolled 
down the steps of the gigantic and Babel- 
like temple of the great image — 

* A very unfair inference; thnt some of the Gypsies 
did not understand the author when lie spoke Romaic, 
whs no proof that their own private language \va.i ;i 
feigned one, invented for thievish purposes. 



It is not our intention to follow the conquests 
of the Mahometans from the days of Walid 
and Mahmoud to those of Timour and Na- 
dir; sufficient to observe, that the greatest 
part of India was subdued, new monarchies 
established, and the old religion, though far 
too powerful and widely spread to be extir- 
pated, to a considerable extent abashed and 
humbled before the bright rising sun of 
Islam. The Persian language, which the 
conquerors* of whatever denomination intro- 
duced with them to Hindustan, and which 
their descendants at the present day still re- 
tain, though not lords of the ascendant, 
speedily became widely extended in these 
regions, where it had previously been un- 
known. As the language of the court, it was 
of course studied and acquired by all those 
natives whose wealth, rank, and influence 
necessarily brought them into connexion 
with the ruling powers, and as the language 
of the camp, it was carried into every part of 
the country where the duties of the soldiery 
sooner or later conducted them ; the result 
of which relations between the conquerors 
and conquered, was the adoption into the 
popular dialects of India of an infinity of 
modern Persian words, not merely those of 
science, such as it exists in the East, and of 
luxury and refinement, but even those which 
serve to express many of the most common 
objects, necessities, and ideas, so that at the 
present day a knowledge of the Persian is 
essential for the thorough understanding of 
the principal dialects of Hindustan, on which 
account, as well as for the assistance which 
it affords in communication with the Maho- 
metans, it is cultivated with peculiar care by 
the present possessors of the land. 

No surprise, therefore, can be entertained, 
that the speech of the Gitanos in general, 
who, in all probability departed from Hindus- 
tan long subsequent to the first Mahometan 
invasions, abounds, like other Indian dialects, 
with words either purely Persian, or slightly 
modified to accommodate them to the genius 
of the language. Whether the Rom many 
originally constituted part of the natives of 
Multan or Guzerat, and abandoned their na- 
tive land to escape from the torch and sword 
of Tamerlane and his Mongols, as Grellman 
and others have supposed, or whether, as is 
much more probable, they were a thievish 
caste, like some others still to be found in 
Hindustan, who fled westward, either from 
the vengeance of justice, or in pursuit of 
plunder, their speaking Persian is alike satis- 
factorily accounted for. With the view of 
exhibiting how closely their language is con- 
nected with the Sanscrit and Persian, we 
subjoin the first ten numerals in the three 
tongues, those of the Gypsy according to the 

* Of all these, the most terrible, and whose sway en- 
dured for the longOBl period, were the Mongols, as they 
were called: few, however, of his original Mongolian 
warriors followed Timour in the invasion of India. His 
armies latterly appear to have consisted chiefly of Turco- 
mans and Persians It was to obtain popularity amonjjst 
these soldiery that he abandoned the old relision of the 
steppea, a kind of leash, or sorcery, and became a Ma- 
hometan. 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE GITANOS. 



Ill 



Hungarian dialect, as quoted in the Mithri. 
dates of Adelung, vol. i. page 246. 





Gypsy. 


Persian. 


Sanscrit. 


1 


Jek 


Ek 


Ega 


2 


Dui 


Du 


Dvaya 


3 


Trin 


Se 


Treya 


4 


Schtar 


Chehar 


Tschatvar 


5 


Pansch 


Pansch 


Pantscha 


6 


Tschov 


Schesche 


Schasda 


7 


Efta 


Heft 


Sapta 


8 


Ochto 


Hescht 


Aschta 


9 


Enija 


Nu 


Nava 


10 


Dosch 


De 


Dascha 



It would be easy for us to adduce a thou- 
sand instances, as striking as the above, of 
the affinity of the Gypsy tongue to the Per- 
sian Sanscrit and the Indian dialects, but we 
have not space for farther observation on a 
point which long since has been sufficiently 
discussed by others endowed with abler pens 
than our own ; but having made these pre- 
liminary remarks, which we deemed neces- 
sary for the elucidation of the subject, we now 
hasten to speak of the Gitano language as 
used in Spain, and to determine, by its evi- 
dence, (and we again repeat, that the lan- 
guage is the only criterion by which the ques- 
tion can be determined,) how far the Gitanos 
of Spain are entitled to claim connexion with 
the tribes, who, under the names of Zigani, 
&c, are to be found in various parts of Eu- 
rope, following, in general, a life of wander- 
ing adventure, and practising the same kind 
of thievish arts which enable those in Spain 
to obtain a livelihood at the expense of the 
more honest and industrious of the commu- 
nity. 

The Gitanos of Spain, as already stated, 
are generally believed to be the descendants 
of the Moriscos, and have been asserted to 
be such in printed books.* Now they are 

* For example, in the Historiade los Gitanos, of which 
we have had occasion to speak in the first part of the 
present work: amongst other things the author says, p. 
95, "If there exist any similitude of customs between 
the Gitanos and the Gypsies, the Zigeuners, the Zingari, 
and the Bohemians, they (the Gitanos) cannot, however, 
be confounded with these nomade castes, nor the same 

origin be attributed to them All that we shall find 

jn common between these people will be, that the one, 
(the Gypsies, &c.,) arrived fugitives from the heart of 
Asia by the steppes of Tartary, at the beginning of the 
fifteenth century, whilst the Gitanos, descended from the 
Arab or Morisco tribes, came from the coast of Africa as 
conquerors at the beginning of the eighth." 

He gets rid of any evidence with respect to the origin 
of the Gitanos which their language might be capable of 
affording, in the following summary manner: " As to the 
particular jargon which they use, any investigation which 
people might pretend to make would be quite useless; in 
the first place, on account oi the reserve which they ex- 
hibit on this point, and secondly, because, in the event 
of some being found sufficiently communicative, the in- 
formation which they could impart would lead to no 
advantageous result, owing to their extreme igno- 
rance." 

It is scarcely worth while to offera remark on reason- 
ing which could only emanate from an understanding of 
the very lowest order,— so the Gitanos are so extremely 
ignorant, that however frank they might wish to be, 
they would be unable to tell the curious inquirer the 
names for bread and water, meat and salt, in their own 
peculiar tongue— for, assuredly, had they sense enough 
to afford that slight quantum of information, it would 
lead to two very advantageous results, by proving, first, 
that they spoke the same language as the Gypsies, &c, 
hnd were consequently .he same people— and secondly, 



known to speak a language or jargon amongst 
themselves, which the other natives of Spain 
do not understand; of course, then, sup- 
posing them to be of Morisco origin, the 
words of this tongue or jargon, which are 
not Spanish, are the relics of the Arabic or 
Moorish Tongue once spoken in Spain, which 
they have inherited from their Moorish an- 
cestors. Now it is well known, that the 
Moorish of Spain was the same tongue as 
that spoken at present by the Moors of Bar- 
bary, from which country Spain was invaded 
by the Arabs, and to which they again retired 
when unable to maintain theirground against 
the armies of the Christians. We will there- 
fore collate the numerals of the Spanish Gi- 
tano with those of the Moorish tongue, pre- 
ceding both with those of the Hungarian 
Gypsy, of which we have already made use, 
for the purpose of making clear the affinity 
of that language to the Sanscrit and Persian. 
By this collation we shall at once perceive 
whether the Gitano of Spain bears most re- 
semblance to the Arabic, or the Rommany 
of other lands. 





Hungarian 


Spanish 


Moorish 




Gypsy. 


Gitano. 


Arabic. 


1 


Jek 


Yeque 


Wahud 


2 


Dui 


Dui 


Snain 


3 


Trin 


Trin 


Slatza 


4 


Schtar 


Estar 


Arba 


5 


Pansch 


Pansche 


Khamsa 


6 


Tschov 


Job. Zoi. 


Seta 


7 


Efta 


Hefta 


Sebea 


8 


Ochto 


Otor 


Sminia 


9 


Enija 


Esnia. (Nu 


. Pers.) Tussa 


10 


Dosch 


Deque 


Aschra 



We believe the above specimens will go 
very far to change the opinion of those who 
have imbibed the idea that the Gitanos of 
Spain are the descendants of Moors, and are 
of an origin different from that of the wan- 
dering tribes of Rommany in other parts of 
the world, the specimens of the two dialects 
of the Gypsy, as far as they go, being so 
strikingly similar, as to leave no doubt of 
their original identity, whilst, on the con- 
trary, with the Moorish, neither the one nor 
the other exhibit the slightest point of simi- 
larity or connexion. But with these speci- 
mens we shall not content ourselves, but pro- 
ceed to give the names of the most common 
things and objects in the Hungarian and Spa- 
nish Gitana, collaterally, with their equiva- 
lents in the Moorish Arabic ; from which it 
will appear that whilst the former are one 
and the same language, they are in every re- 
spect at variance with the latter. When we 
consider that the Persian has adopted so many 
words and phrases from the Arabic, we are at 
first disposed to wonder that a considerable 
portion of these words are not to be disco- 
vered in every dialect of the Gypsy tongue, 
since the Persian has lent it so much of its 
vocabulary. Yet such is by no means the 

that they came not from the coast of Northern Africa, 
where only Arabic and Shilhah are spoken, but from 
the heart of Asia, three words of the four being pure 
Sanscrit. 



112 



THE ZINCALI. 



case, as it is very uncommon, in any one of 
these dialects, to discover words derived from 
the Arabic. Perhaps, however, the follow- 
lowing consideration will help to solve this 
point. The Gitanos, even before they left 
India, were probably much the same rude, 
thievish, and ignorant people, as they are at 
the present day. Now the words adopted 
by the Persian from the Arabic, and which it 
subsequently introduced into the dialects Oi 
India, are sounds representing objects and 
ideas with which such a people as the Gitanos 
could necessarily be but scantily acquainted, 
a people whose circle of ideas only embraces 
physical objects, and who never communed 
with their own minds, nor exerted them, but, 
in devising low and vulgar schemes of pillage 
and deceit. Whatever is visible and common 
is seldom or never represented by the Per- 
sians, even in their books, by the help of 
Arabic words : the sun and stars, the sea and 
river, the earth, its trees, its fruits, its flowers 
and all that it produces and supports, are 
seldom named by them by other terms than 
those which their own language is capable 
of affording; but in expressing the abstract 
thoughts of their minds, and they are a peo. 
pie who think much and well, they borrow 
largely from the language of their religion — 
the Arabic. We therefore, perhaps, ought 
not to be surprised, that in the scanty phra- 
seology of the Gitanos, amongst so much 
Persian, we find so little that is Arabic ; had 
their pursuits been less vile, their desires less 
animal, and their thoughts less circumscribed, 
it would probably have been otherwise ; but 
from time immemorial they have shown them- 
selves a nation of petty thieves, horse traf- 
fickers and the like, without a thought of the 
morrow, being content to provide against the 
evil of the passing day. 

The following is a comparison of words in 
the three languages. 



Name 

Night 

Nose 

Old 

Red 

Salt 

Sing 

Sun 

Thief 

Thou 

Tongue 

Tooth 

Tree 

Water 

Wind 



Hungarian 
Gypsy. 

Nao 

Rat 

Nakh 

Puro 

Lai 

Lon 



Spanish 
Gitano. 

Nao 

Rachi 

Naqui 

Puro 

Lalo 

Lon 



Gjuwawa Gilyabar 
Can 
Choro 
Tucue 
Chipe 
Dani 
Caste 
Pani 
Barban 



Cam 

Tschor 

Tu 

Tschib 

Dant 

Karscht 

Pani 

Barbar 



Moorish 
Arabic. 

Ism 

Lila 

Munghar 

Shaive 

Hamr 

Mela 

Iganni 

Schems 

Haram 

Antsi 

Lsan 

Sinn 

Schizara 

Ma 

Ruhk 





Hungarian 
Gypsy. 


Spanish 
Gitano. 


Moorish 
Arabic. 


Bone 


Cokalos 


Cocal 


Adorn 


City 


Forjus 


For os 


Beled 


Day 


Dives 


Chibes 


Youm 


Drink (to) 
Ear 


Piava 
Kan 


Piyar 
Can 


Yeschr 
Oothin 


Eye 
Feather 


Jakh 
Por 


Aquia 
Porumia 


Ein 
Risch 


Fire 
Fish 


Vag 
Maczo 


Yaque 
Macho 


Afia 
Hutz 


Foot 


Pir 


Piro, pindro Rjil 


Gold 


Sonkai 


Sonacai 


Dahab 


Great 


Baro 


Baro 


Quibir 


Hair 


Bala 


Bal 


Schar 


He, pron. 


Wow 


O 


Hu 


Head 


Tschero 


Jero 


Ras 


House 


Ker 


Quer 


Dar 


Husband 


Rom 


Ron 


Zooje 


Lightning 


Molnija 


Maluno 


Brak 


Love (to) 


Camaba 


Cumelar 


Yehib 


Man 


Manusch 


Manu 


Rajil 


Milk 


Tud 


Chuti 


Helib 


Mountain 


Bar 


Bur 


Djibil 


Mouth 


Mui 


Mui 


Finn 



We shall offer no farther observations re- 
specting the affinity of the Spanish Gitano to 
the other dialects, as we conceive we have 
already afforded sufficient proof of its origi- 
nal identity with them, and consequently 
shaken to the ground the absurd opinion that 
the Gitanos of Spain are the descendants of 
the Arabs and Moriscos. We shall now con- 
clude with a few remarks on the present state 
of the Gitano language in Spain, where, per- 
haps, within the course of a few years, it will 
have perished, without leaving a vestige of 
its having once existed ; and where, perhaps, 
the singular people who speak it are likewise 
doomed to disappear, becoming sooner or 
later engulfed and absorbed in the great body 
of the nation, amongst whom they have so 
long existed a separate and peculiar class. 

Though the words or a part of the words 
of the original tongue still remain, preserved 
by memory amongst the Gitanos, its gram- 
matical peculiarities have disappeared, the 
entire language having been modified and 
subjected to the rules of Spanish grammar, 
with which it now coincides in Syntax, in 
the conjugation of verbs, and in the declen- 
sion of its nouns. Were it possible or ne- 
cessary to collect all the relics of this speech, 
they would probably amount to four or five 
thousand words; but to effect such an achieve- 
ment, it would be necessary to hold close and 
long intercourse with almost every Gitano in 
Spain, and to extract from them, by various 
means, the information which they might be 
individually capable of affording ; for it is ne- 
cessary to state here, that though such an 
amount of words may still exist amongst the 
Gitanos in general, no single individual of 
their sect is in possession of one third part 
thereof, and indeed we may add, those of no 
single city or province of Spain ; neverthe- 
less all are in possession, more or less, of the 
language, so that, though of different pro- 
vinces, they are ennbled to understand each 
other tolerably well, when discoursing in this 
their characteristic speech. Those who tra- 
vel most are of course best versed in it, as, 
independent of the words of their own vil- 
lage or town, they acquire others by inter- 
mingling with their race in various places. 
Perhaps there is no part of Spain where it 
is spoken better than in Madrid, which is 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE GITANOS. 



113 



easily accounted for by the fact, that Madrid, 
as the capital, has always been the point of 
union of the Gitanos, from all those provinces 
of Spain where they are to be found. It is 
least of all preserved in Seville, notwith- 
standing that the Gitano population is very 
considerable, consisting, however, almost en- 
tirely of natives of the place. As may well 
be supposed, it is in all places best preserved 
amongst the old people, especially the fe- 
males, their children being comparatively ig- 
norant of it, as perhaps they themselves are 
in comparison with their own parents, which 
naturally leads us to the conclusion that the 
Gitano language of Spain is at the last stage 
of its existence, an idea which has been our 
main instigator to the present attempt to col- 
lect its scanty remains, and by the assistance 
of the press, rescue it in some degree from 
destruction. It will not be amiss to state 
here, that it is only by listening attentively 
to the speech of the Gitanos, whilst dis- 
coursing amongst themselves, that an ac- 
quaintance with their dialect can be formed, 
and by seizing upon all unknown words as 
they fall in succession from their lips. No r 
thing can be more useless and hopeless than 
the attempt to obtain possession of their vo- 
cabulary by inquiring of them how particular 



objects and ideas are styled in the same, for 
with the exception of the names of the most 
common things, they are totally incapable, 
as a Spanish writer has observed, of yielding 
the required information, owing to their great 
ignorance, the shortness of their memories, 
or rather the state of bewilderment to which 
their minds are brought by any question 
which tends to bring their reasoning facul- 
ties into action, though not unfrequently the 
very words which have been in vain required 
of them, will, a minute subsequently, proceed 
inadvertently from their mouths. 

We now take leave of their language. 
When wishing to praise the proficiency of 
any individual in their tongue, they are in 
the habit of saying, "He understands the 
seven jargons." In the Gospel which we 
have printed in this language, and in the dic- 
tionary which we have compiled, we have 
endeavoured, to the utmost of our ability, to 
deserve that compliment ; and at all times it 
will afford us sincere and heartfelt pleasure 
to be informed that any Gitano, capable of 
appreciating the said little works, has ob- 
served, whilst reading them or hearing them 
read: It is clear that the writer of these 
books understood 

The Seven Jargons. 



K 



ON 



ROBBER LANGUAGE: 



OR, AS IT IS CALLED IN SPAIN, GERMANIA. 



" So I went with them to a music booth, where they made me almost drunk with gin, and began to talk their 
Flash Language, which I did not then understand." — Narrative of the exploits of Henry Simms, executed at 
Tyburn, 1746. 

" Hablaronse los dos en Germania, de lo qual resulto darme un abraco, y ofrecerseme."— Qoevedo. Vida del 
gran Tacano. 



Havtng in the preceding article endea- 
voured to afford all necessary information 
concerning 1 the Rommany, or language used 
by the Gypsies amongst themselves, we now 
propose to turn our attention to a subject of 
no less interest, but which has hitherto never 
been treated in a manner calculated to lead 
to any satisfactory result or conclusion ; on 
the contrary, though philosophic minds have 
been engaged in its consideration, and learned 
pens have not disdained to occupy themselves 
with its details, it still remains a singular 
proof of the errors into which the most acute 
and laborious writers are apt to fall, when they 
take upon themselves the task of writing on 
matters which cannot be studied in the clo- 
set, and on which no information can be re- 
ceived by mixing in the society of the wise, 
the lettered, and the respectable, but which 
must be investigated in the fields, and on the 
borders of the highways, in prisons, and 
amongst the dregs of society. Had the lat- 
ter system been pursued in the matter now 
before us, much clearer, more rational, and 
more just ideas would long since have been 
entertained respecting the Germania, or lan- 
guage of thieves. 

In most countries of Europe there exists, 
amongst those who obtain their existence by 
the breach of the law, and by preying upon 
the fruits of the labours of the quiet and or- 
derly portion of society, a particular jargon 
or dialect, in which the former discuss their 
schemes and plans of plunder, without being 
in general understood by those to whom they 
are obnoxious. The name of this jargon va- 
ries with the country in which it is spoken. 
In Spain it is called " Germania ;" in France, 
" Argot ;" in Germany, " Rothwelsch," or 
red Italian; in Italy, "Gorgo;" whilst in 
England it is known by many names, for 
example " cant, slang, thieves' Latin," &c. 
The most remarkable circumstance connect- 
ed with the history of this jargon is, that in 
all the countries in which it is spoken, it has 
invariably, by the authors who have treated 
114 



of it, and who are numerous, been confounded 
with the Gypsy language, and asserted to be 
the speech of those wanderers who have so 
long infested Europe under the name of Gi- 
tanos, &c. How far this belief is founded in 
justice we shall now endeavour to show, with 
the premise that whatever we advance is de- 
rived, not from the assertions or opinions of 
others, but from our own observation ; the 
point in question being one which no person 
is capable of solving, save him who has mixed 
with Gitanos [and thieves, not with the for- 
mer merely or the latter, but with both. 

We have already stated what is the Rom- 
many or language of the Gypsies. We have 
proved that when properly spoken it is to all 
intents and purposes entitled to the appella- 
tion of a language, and that wherever it ex- 
ists it is virtually the same. That its origin 
is illustrious, it being a daughter of the San- 
scrit, and in consequence in close connexion 
with some of the most celebrated languages 
of the East, although it at present is only 
used by the most unfortunate and degraded 
of beings, wanderers without home and al- 
most without country, as wherever they are 
found they are considered in the light of fo- 
reigners and interlopers. We shall now 
state what the language of thieves is, as it is 
generally spoken in Europe; after which we 
shall proceed to analyze it according to the 
various countries in which it is used. 

The dialect used for their own peculiar 
purposes amongst thieves, is by no means 
entitled to the appellation of a language, but 
in every sense to that of a jargon or gibber- 
ish, it being for the most part composed of 
words of the native language of those who 
use it, according to the particular country, 
though invariably in a meaning differing more 
or less from the usual and received one, and 
for the most part in a metaphorical sense. 
Metaphor and allegory, indeed, seem to form 
the nucleus of this speech, notwithstanding 
that other elements are to be distinguished; 
for it is certain that in every country where 



ROBBER LANCUAGE. 



115 



it is spoken, it contains many words differing 
from the language of that country, and which 
may either be traced to foreign tongues, or 
are of an origin at which, in many instances, 
it is impossible to arrive. That which is 
most calculated to strike the philosophic 
mind when considering this dialect, is doubt- 
less the fact of its being formed every where 
upon the same principle — that of metaphor, 
in which point all the branches agree, though 
in others they differ as much from each other 
as the languages on which they are founded; 
for example, as the English and German, 
from the Spanish and Italian. This circum- 
stance naturally leads to the conclusion that 
the robber language has not arisen fortui- 
tously in the various countries where it is at 
present spoken, but that its origin is one and 
the same, it being probably invented by the 
outlaws of one particular country; by indivi- 
duals of which it was, in course of time, car- 
ried to others, where its principles, if not its 
words, were adopted ; for upon no other sup- 
position can we account for its general me- 
taphorical character in regions various and 
distant. It is, of course, impossible to state 
with certainty the country in which this jar- 
gon first arose, yet there is cogent reason for 
supposing that it may have been Italy. The 
Germans call it Rothwelsch, which signifies 
"Red Italian," a name which appears to 
point out Italy as its birth-place ; and which, 
though by no means of sufficient importance 
to determine the question, is strongly cor- 
roborative of the supposition, when coupled 
with the following fact. We have already 
intimated, that wherever it is spoken, this 
speech, though composed for the most part 
of words of the language of the particular 
country, applied in a metaphorical sense, ex- 
hibits a considerable sprinkling of foreign 
words; now of these words no slight number 
are Italian or bastard Latin, whether in Ger- 
many, whether in Spain, or in other coun- 
tries more or less remote from Italy. When 
we consider the ignorance of thieves in ge- 
neral, their total want of education, the slight 
knowledge which they possess even of their 
mother tongue, it is hardly reasonable to sup- 
pose that in any country they were ever ca- 
pable of having recourse to foreign languages, 
for the purpose of enriching any peculiar vo- 
cabulary or phraseology which they might 
deem convenient to use among themselves ; 
nevertheless, by associating with foreign 
thieves, either exiled from their native coun- 
try for their crimes, or from a hope of reap- 
ing a rich harvest of plunder in other lands, 
it would be easy for them to adopt a consi- 
derable number of words belonging to the 
languages used by their foreign associates, 
from whom at the same time they derived an 
increase of knowledge in thievish arts of 
every description. At the commencement 
of the fifteenth century no nation in Europe 
was at all calculated to vie with the Italian 
in arts of any kind, whether those whose 
tendency was the benefit or improvement of 
society, or those the practice of which serves 



to injure and undermine it. The artists and 
artisans of Italy were to be found in all the 
countries of Europe, from Madrid to Mos- 
cow, and so were its charlatans, its jug- 
glers, and multitudes of its children, who 
lived by fraud and cunning. Therefore, when 
a comprehensive view of the subject is taken, 
there appears to be little improbability in 
supposing, that not only were the Italians 
the originators of the metaphorical robber 
jargon, which has been termed "Red Ita- 
lian," but that they were mainly instrumen- 
tal in causing it to be adopted by the thievish 
race in the less civilized countries of Europe. 
It is here, however, necessary to state, 
that in the robber jargon of Europe, elements 
of another language are to be discovered, 
and perhaps in greater number than the Ita- 
lian words. The language which we allude 
to is the Rommany; this language has been, 
in general, confounded with the vocabulary 
used among thieves, which, however, is a 
gross error, so gross, indeed, that it is almost 
impossible to conceive the manner in which 
it originated. The speech of the Gypsies 
being a genuine language of oriental origin, 
and the former little more than a phraseology 
of convenience, founded upon particular Eu- 
ropean tongues. It will be sufficient here to 
remark, that the Gypsies do not understand 
the jargon of the thieves, whilst the latter, 
with perhaps a few exceptions, are ignorant 
of the language of the former. Certain 
words, however, of the Rommany have found 
admission into the said jargon, which may 
be accounted for by the supposition that the 
Gypsies, being themselves by birth, educa- 
tion, and profession, thieves of the first 
water, have, on various occasions, formed 
alliances with the outlaws of the various 
countries in which they are at present to be 
found, which association may have produced 
the result above alluded to ; but it will be as 
well here to state, that in no country of Eu- 
rope have the Gypsies forsaken or forgotten 
their native tongue, and in its stead adopted 
the "Gerrnania," " Red Italian," or robber 
jargon, notwithstanding that they preserve 
their native language in a state of more or 
less purity. We are induced to make this 
statement from an assertion of the celebrated 
Lorenzo Hervas, who, in the 3d vol. of his 
" Catalogo de las lenguas," trat. 3. cap. vi. 
p. 311, expresses himself to the following 
effect: " The proper language of the Gitanos, 
neither is nor can be found amongst those 
who scattered themselves through the western 
kingdoms of Europe, but only amongst those 
who remained in the eastern, where they are 
still to be found. The former were notably 
divided and disunited, receiving into their 
body a great number of European outlaws, 
on which account the language in question 
was easily adulterated and soon perished. 
In Spain, and also in Italy, the Gitanos have 
totally forgotten and lost their native Ian. 
guage; yet still wishing to converse with 
each other in a language unknown to tho 
Spaniards and Italians, they have invented 



116 



THE ZINCALI. 



some words, and have transformed many 
others by changing the signification which 
properly belongs to them in Spanish and 
Italian." In proof of which assertion he 
then exhibits a small number of the words 
of the " Red Italian," or allegorical tongue 
of the thieves of Italy. 

It is much to be lamented that a man like 
Hervas, so learned, of such acknowledged, 
and upon the whole well-earned celebrity, 
should have helped to propagate three such 
flagrant errors as are contained in the passage 
above quoted. 1st. That the Gypsy language, 
within a very short period after the arrival of 
those who spoke it in the western kingdoms 
of Europe, became corrupted, and perished 
by the admission of outlaws into the Gypsy 
fraternity. 2dly. That the Gypsies, in or- 
der to supply the loss of their native tongue, 
invented some words, and modified others, 
from the Spanish and Italian. 3dly. That 
the Gypsies of the present day in Spain and 
Italy speak the allegorical robber dialect. 
Concerning the first assertion, namely, that 
the Gypsies of the west lost their language 
shortly after their arrival, by mixing with the 
outlaws of those parts, we believe that its 
erroneousness will be sufficiently established 
by the publication of the present volume, 
which contains a dictionary of the Spanish 
Gitano, which we have proved to be the same 
language in most points as that spoken by 
the eastern tribes. 

There can be no doubt that the Gypsies 
have at various times formed alliances with 
the robbers of particular countries, but that 
they ever received them in considerable num- 
bers into their fraternity, as Hervas has stated, 
so as to become confounded with them, the 
evidence of our eye-sight precludes the pos- 
sibility of believing. If such were the fact, 
why do the Italian and Spanish Gypsies of 
the present day still present themselves as a 
distinct race, differing from the other inhabi- 
tants of the west of Europe in feature, co- 
lour, and constitution 1 Why are they in 
whatever situation and under whatever cir- 
cumstances, to be distinguisiied, like Jews, 
from the other children of the Creator? But 
the question involves an absurdity; and it is 
scarcely necessary to state that the Gypsies 
of Spain and Italy have kept themselves as 
much apart, or at least have as little mingled 
their blood with the Spaniards and Italians 
as their brethren in Hungaria and Transyl- 
vania with the inhabitants of those countries, 
on which account they still strikingly resem- 
ble them in manners, customs and appear- 
ance. The most extraordinary assertion of 
Hervas is perhaps his second, namely, that 
the Gypsies have invented particular words 
to supply the place of others which they 
had lost. The absurdity of this supposition 
nearly induces us to believe that Hervas, 
who has written so much and so laboriously 
on language, was totally ignorant of the phi- 
losophy of his subject. There can be no 
doubt, as we have before admitted, that in 
the robber jargon, whether spoken in Spain, 



Italy, or England, there are many words at 
whose etymology it is very difficult to arrive; 
yet such a fact is no excuse for the adoption 
of the opinion that these words are of pure 
invention. A knowledge of the Rommany 
proves satisfactorily that many have been 
borrowed from that language, whilst many 
others may be traced to foreign tongues, es- 
pecially the Latin and Italian. Perhaps one 
of the strongest grounds for concluding that 
the origin of language was divine, is the fact 
that no instance can be adduced of the inven- 
tion, we will not say of a language, but even 
of a single word that is in use in society of 
any kind. Although new dialects are con- 
tinually being formed, it is only by a system 
of modification, by which roots almost coeval 
with time itself are continually being repro- 
duced under a fresh appearance, and under 
new circumstances. The third assertion of 
Hervas as to the Gitanos speaking the alle- 
gorical language of which he exhibits speci- 
mens, is entitled to about equal credence as 
the two former. The truth is, that the entire 
store of erudition of the learned Jesuit, and 
he doubtless was learned to a remarkable de- 
gree, was derived from books, either printed 
or manuscript. He was aware, from the then 
recent publication of Grellman, that the Gyp- 
sies of Germany and Hungaria spoke amongst 
themselves a language differing from the rest 
of the European ones, specimens of which 
he compared with various vocabularies, which 
have long been in existence, of the robber 
jargon of Spain and Italy; which jargon, by 
some unaccountable fatuity, has been con- 
sidered as belonging to the Gitanos, but he 
never gave himself the trouble to verify whe- 
ther this jargon was intelligible to the Gyp- 
sies of the respective countries ; had he done 
so, he would have found it about the same 
degree as unintelligible to them, as the words 
in the vocabulary of Grellman would have 
proved if quoted to thieves. With respect 
to the Gitanos of Spain, it will be sufficient 
to observe that they speak the language of 
the present volume, whilst the Gitanos of 
Italy, who are generally to be found existing 
in a half savage state in the various ruined 
castles, relics of the feudal times, with which 
Italy abounds, speak a dialect very similar, 
and about as much corrupted. There are, 
however, to be continually found in Italy 
roving bands of Rommany, not natives of the 
country, who make triennial excursions from 
Moldavia and Hungaria to France and Italy, 
for the purpose of plunder; and who, if they 
escape the hand of justice, return at the ex- 
piration of that period to their native regions, 
with the booty they have amassed by the 
practice of those thievish arts, perhaps at 
one period peculiar to their race, but at pre- 
sent, for the most part, known and practised 
by thieves in general. These bands, how- 
ever, speak the pure Gypsy language, with 
all its grammatical peculiarities. It is evi- 
dent, however, that amongst neither of these 
j classes had Hervas pushed his researches, 
! which, had he done, it is probable that his 



ROBBER LANGUAGE. 



117 



investigations would have resulted in a workl ing various conjectures respecting its origin; 
of a far'different character from the confused, its sound, cotipJed with its signification, at'- 



unsatisfactory, and incorrect details of which 
is formed his essay on the language of the 
Gypsies. 

Having said thus much concerning the rob- 
ber language in general, we shall now pro- 
ceed to offer some specimens of it, in order 
that our readers may be better able to under- 
stand its principles. We shall commence 
with the Italian dialect, which there is rea- 
son for supposing to be the prototype of the 
rest. For this purpose we avail ourselves of 
some of the words adduced by Heryas, as 
specimens of the language of the Gitanos of 
Italy. "I place them," he observes, "with 
the signification which the greater number 
properly have in Italian." 



Arm 

Belly 
Devil 



Earth 

Eye 

Father 

Fire 

God 

Hair 

Head 



Heart 
Man 



Moon 

Night 
Nose 
Sun 

Tongue 
Water 



Robber jargon 
of Italy. 

Ale 

Barbacane 

Fagiana 

Rabuino 



Calcosa 

Balco 

Grimo 

Presto 

Anticrotto 

Prusa* 
"Elmo 
I Borellaf 
.Chiurlat 

SalsEi 

Osm 



Proper signification 
of the words. 

Wings 

Barbican 

Pheasant 

Perhaps Rab- 
bin, which, 
in Hebrew, 
is Master 

Street, road 

Balcony 

Old, wrinkled 

Quick 

Probably An- 
tichrist 

Helmet 



Mocoloso di Sant' 
Alto 

Brunamaterna 

Gambaro 

Ruffo di Sant' 
Alto 
^ Serpentina 
\ Danosa 
5 Lenza 
I Vetta$ 



Sauce 

From the Ita- 
lian uomo, 
which is man 
Wick of the 

firmament 
Mother-brown 
Crab 
Red one of the 

firmament 
Serpent-like 
Hurtful 
Fishing-net 
Top, bud 

The Germania of Spain may be said to di- 
vide itself into two dialects, the ancient and 
modern. Of .the former there exists a voca- 
bulary, published first by Juan Hidalgo, in the 
year 1609, at Barcelona, and reprinted in 
Madrid, 1773. Before noticing this work, it 
will perhaps be advisable to endeavour to as- 
certain the true etymology of the word Ger- 
mania, which signifies the slang vocabulary, 
or robber language of Spain. We have no 
intention to embarrass our readers by offer- 

* Possibly from the Russian Eoloss, which has the 
same signification. 

| Basque, Ilurua. 

t Sanscrit, Schira. 

$ These two words, which Hervas supposes to be Ita- 
lian used in an improper sense, are probably of quite ano- 
ther origin. Len, in Gitano signifies "river," whilst vadi 
In Russian is equivalent to water. 

16 



fording sufficient evidence that it is but a 
corruption of Rommany, which properly de- 
notes the speech of the Roma or Gitanos. 
The thieves who from time to time associ- 
ated with this wandering people, and ac- 
quired more or less of their language, doubt- 
less adopted this term amongst others, and, 
after modifying it, applied it to the peculiar 
phraseology which, in the course of time, be- 
came prevalent amongst them. The diction- 
ary of Hidalgo is appended to six ballads, or 
romances, by the same author, written in the 
Germanian dialect, in which he describes the 
robber life at Seville at the period in which 
he lived. All of these romances possess their 
peculiar merit, and will doubtless always be 
considered valuable, and be read, as faithful 
pictures of scenes and habits which now no 
longer exist. In the prologue, the author 
states that his principal motive for publish- 
ing a work written in so strange a language 
was, his observing the damage which result- 
ed from an ignorance of the Germania, espe- 
cially to the judges and ministers of justice, 
whose charge it is to cleanse the public from 
the pernicious gentry who use it. It will be 
necessary to observe here, that Hidalgo 
speaks of this language as the language of 
the thieves as it in reality is, but neither in 
his preface, nor in the romances themselves, 
utters one syllable which could lead his read- 
ers to conclude that it was used by the Gita- 
nos, concerning whom he is perfectly silent 
throughout his work. His editor, however, 
J of 1779, has fallen into that error, and, as an 
appendix to the work, has reprinted the dis- 
course of Doctor Sancho Moncada, Profes- 
sor of Theology at the University of Toledo, 
addressed to Philip the Third, concerning the 
expulsion of the Gitanos ; the consequence 
of which has been that, at the present day, 
the vocabulary of Hidalgo is generally con- 
sidered in Spain to consist of the genuine 
relics of the Gitano, and the romances in 
Germania to be written in the Rommany, or 
speech of the Gitanos. By far the greatest 
part of the vocabulary consists of Spanish 
words used allegorically, which are, howe- 
ver, intermingled with many others, most of 
which may be traced to the Latin and Ita- 
lian, others to the Sanscrit or Gitano, Rus- 
sian, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and German 
languages.* This circumstance, which at 
first may strike the reader as singular, and 
almost incredible, will afford but slight sur- 
prise, when he takes into consideration the 
peculiar circumstances of Spain during the 



^pai 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Spain 
was at that period the most powerful monar- 

* It is not our intention to weary the reader with pro- 
lix specimens; nevertheless, in corroboration of what W 9 
have asserted, we shall take the liberty of offering a tow. 
Piar, to drink, (p. 188,) is Sanscrit, piawa. llasilra, cal- 
lows, (p. 15*,) is Russian, bcnliti. CaraOlO, wine, and 
gurapo, galley, (p. ir>9-17(>,) Arabic, haram (whicb IKd. 
rally signifies that which Is forbidden) and rrab. rat, 
(p. 27&,] harlot, Turkish, kilt. Barton, bread, (p. 177,) 
Greek, arto.-. Gaido, good, and hurgnmandera. boriot, 
(p. 177-8,) German gut and Inirr. Tiple, wine, (p l'.'7,) 
is the same as I he EngJiflb « ord tij>;l( . G\ rw; . I 

12 



IIS 



THE ZINC ALL 



chy in Europe, her foot reposed upon the 
Low Countries, whilst her gigantic arms em- 
braced a considerable portion of Italy. Main- 
taining always a standing army in Flanders 
and in Italy, it followed, as a natural conse- 
quence, that her Miquelets and soldiers be- 
came tolerably conversant with the languages 
of those countries; and, in course of time, 
returning to their native land, not a few, es- 
pecially of the former class, a brave and in- 
trepid, but always a lawless and dissolute 
species of soldiery, either fell in or returned 
to evil society, and introduced words which 
they had learnt abroad into the robber phra- 
seology; whilst returned galley slaves, from 
Algiers, Tunis, and Tetuan, added to its 
motley variety of words from the relics of 
the broken Arabic and Turkish, which they 
had acquired during their captivity. The 
greatest part of the Germania, however, re- 
mained strictly metaphorical, and we are 
aware of no better means of conveying an 
idea of the principle on which it is formed, 
than by quoting from the first romance of 
Hidalgo, where particular mention is made 
of this jargon: — 

66 A la cama llama Blanda 
Donde soman en poblado. 
A la Fresada Vellosa, 
Que mucho vello ha criado. 
Dice a la sabana Alba 
Porque es alba en sumo grade. 
A la eamisa Carona, 
Al jubon llama apretado; 
Dice al Sayo Tapador 
Porque le lleva tapado. 
Llama a los zapatos Duros, 
Clue las piedras van pisando. 
A la capa llama nuve, 
Dice al Sombrero Texado. 
Respeto llama a la Espada, 
due por ella es respetado. 
Al meson llama Sospecho 
Porque del Guro es mirado. 
Llama al Bodegon Registro, 
Do el dinero es registrado. 
A la Taberna Alegria, 
due alegra al mas enojado. 
A los reales Contento, 
Glue el oue los tiene es preciado." 

Hidalgo, p. 21—3. 

After these few remarks on the ancient 
Germania of Spain, we now proceed to the 
modern, which differs considerably from the 
former. The principal cause of this differ- 
ence is to be attributed to the adoption by 
the Spanish outlaws, in latter years, of a con- 
siderable number of words belonging to, or 
modified from, the Rommany, or language of 
the Gitanos. The Gitanos of Spain, during 
the last half century, having, in a great de- 
gree, abandoned the wandering habit of life 
which once constituted one of their most re- 
markable peculiarities, and residing, at pre- 
sent, more in the cities than in the fields, 
have come into closer contact with the great 
body of the Spanish nation than was in for- 
mer days their practice. From their living 
thus in towns, their language has not only 
undergone much corruption, but has become, 
to a slight degree, known to the dregs of 
society, amongst whom they reside. The 
.thieves' dialect of the present day exhibits, 
therefore, less of the allegorical language 
preserved in the pages of Hidalgo than of 



the Gypsy tongue. It must be remarkeo, 
however, that it is very scanty, and that the 
whole robber phraseology at present used in 
Spain barely amounts to two hundred words, 
which are utterly insufficient to express the 
very limited ideas of the outcasts who avail 
themselves of it. As our readers may per- 
haps entertain some curiosity respecting this 
dialect, we subjoin a small vocabulary, com- 
piled in the prison of Madrid. In this voca- 
bulary, some of the allegorical words of Hi- 
dalgo will be observed, though the greater 
part consists of Gitano words modified and 
not unfrequently used in a wrong sense. 



Abillar 


To have 


Agarabar 


To seize 


Alajai 


Friar 


Alares 


Pantaloons 


Aplacerarse 


To be 


Aquerar 


To say 


Arriar 


To send 


Baril 


Judge 


Barria 


Ounce of Gold 


Bastes 


Hands 


Bato, Bata 


Father, Mother 


Bero 


Galley 


Bola 


Street 


Burda 


Gate 


Calcos 


Shoes 


Camalinches 


Buttons 


Cargar 


To take 


Clais 


Eyes 


Coba 


Mouth 


Coba 


Talk, fun 


Colgandero 


Watch 


Culebra 


Girdle 


Cha 


Yes 


Chai 


Woman 


Charros 


Fetters 


Chima 


Head 


Chiscon 


Dungeon 


Chivei 


Village 


Chuli 


Knife 


Chulo 


Good 


Dinar 


To give 


Estabo 


Robbery 


Estaro 


Prison 


Estache 


Hat 


Falda 


Clothes, linen 


Fila 


Face 


Filipichi 


Jacket 


Filar 


To see 


Filotear 


To recognise 


Filoteo 


Recognition 


Gache 


Man 


Gao 


Madrid 


Gitana 


Twelve ounces of bread 




small pound 


Jardin 


Court of the prison 


Jaula 


Chapel 


Junar 


To learn 


Jundo 


Soldier 


Liban 


Ink 


Libanadora 


Pen 


Libanar 


To write 


Libano 


Notary public 


Lima 


Shirt 


Manro 


Bread 



ROEBER LANGUAGE. 



119 



Maque 



In Spanish Cardjo, an 
oath 



Monro An adult 

Mosquete Dollar 

Muy Tongue 

Nacle Light 

Nel No 

Nibel God 

Nube Cloak 

Paloma Billet, note 

Papiri Paper 

Pel a Peseta 

Pelusera Blanket 

Peria Brandy 

Pesquivar To like 

Picudos Field Pease 

Pili Cigar 

Pifios Teeth 

Pin res Feet, 

Piano, plana Brother, sister 
Pusca Pistol 

Quile Mentula 

Recarii Window 

Rumi Harlot 

Safo Handkerchief 

Sarto Serjeant 

Tarpe Heaven. 

Concerning the Germania of France* or 
"Argot," as it is called, it is unnecessary to 
make many observations, as what has been 
said of the language of Hidalgo and the Red 
Italian, is almost in every respect applicable 
to it.: As early as the middle of the sixteenth 
century, a vocabulary of this jargon was pub- 
lished under the title of " Langue des Es- 
crocs," at Paris. Those who wish to study 
it as it at present exists, can do no better 
than consult " Les Memoires de Vidocq," 
where a multitude of words in Argot are to 
be found, and also several songs, the subjects 
of which are thievish adventures. 

The first vocabulary of the "Cant Lan- 
guage," or English Germania, appeared in 
the year 1680, appended to the life of "The 
English Rogue," a work which, in many re- 
spects, resembles the history of Guzman D'Al- 
farache, though it is written with considerably 
more genius than the Spanish novel, every 
chapter abounding with remarkable adven- 
tures of the robber whose life it pretends to 
narrate, and which are described with a kind 
of ferocious energy, which, if it do not charm 
the attention of the reader, at least enslaves 
it, holding it captive with a chain of iron. 
Amongst his other adventures, the hero falls 
in with a Gypsy encampment, is enrolled 
amongst the fraternity, and is allotted a 
" mort," or concubine; a barbarous festival 
ensues, at the conclusion of which an epi- 
thalamium is sung in the Gypsy language, 
as it is called in the work in question. Nei- 
ther the epithalamium, however, nor the vo- 
cabulary, are written in the language of the 
English Gypsies, but in the "Cant," or alle- 
gorical robber dialect, which is sufficient proof 
that the writer, however well acquainted with 
thieves in general, their customs and man- 
ners of life, was in respect to the Gypsies pro- 
foundly ignorant. His vocabulary, however 



has been always accepted as the speech of 
the English Gypsies, whereas it is at most en- 
titled to be considered as the peculiar speech 
of the thieves and vagabonds of his time. 
The cant of the present day, which, though 
it differs in some respects from the vocabu- 
lary already mentioned, is radically the same, 
is used by the greatest part of those who live 
in open defiance of the law, or obtain their 
livelihood by means which morality cannot 
sanction ; it is used not only in the secret re- 
ceptacles of crime, but on the race-course, 
and in the "ring," where those tremendous 
beings, the pugilists of England, display their 
prowess and ferocity. It is, moreover, much 
cultivated by the young and debauched aris- 
tocracy of England, whose pride it is to con- 
verse with the pugilists of the ring, and the 
jockeys of the race-course, in their own vul- 
gar and disgusting jargon, resembling, in this 
point, the Grandees of Spain, who are not 
ashamed to receive into their palaces, and to 
feast at their tables, the ruffian Toreros of An- 
dalusia. As a specimen of the cant of Eng- 
land, we shall take the liberty of quoting the 
epithalamium to which we have above al- 
luded. 

Bring out, bien morts, and tour and tour, 
Bring out, bien morts and tour; 
For all your duds are bing'd awast 
The bien cove hath the loure. 

I met a dell, I view'd her well, 
She was benship to my watch; 
So she and I did stall and cloy. 
Whatever we could catch. 

This doxy dell can cut ben whids, 
And wap well for a win, 
And prig and cloy so benshiply, 
All daisy-ville within. 

The hoyle was up, we had good luck, 
In frost for and in snow; 
When they did seek, then we did creep 
And plant in roughman's low. 

Which may be thus translated into Spanish. 

Fuera: al camino: vos, las buenas muchachas; fu6ra; 
al cainitjo : para dar una vuelta ; pues que todas vuestras 
alhajas estan empeiiAdas, y el Tabernero tiene el dinero. 

Me tope con una ino/.a y despues de considerarla con 
atencion parecio bien a mis ojos; compania Kcba, nos 
pusimos a trabajar, engnfiando, y robando todo lo que nos 
era posible. 

Esta moza-ramera tiene el don del bienhablar, y sabe 
trocar sus jeneros, siginpre con la canancia de algun 
cuarto; sabe pillar y bribonear divinainentedentrodelos 
pueblecitos del campo. 

Al fin conclniinos nutstro juego, despues de tener 
mucha suerte en el tiempo de la escarcha y de la nieve, 
principiando la justicia a buscamos, fuiinos a agazapar' 
nos en unas oscuras cucvjis de la tierra. 

It is scarcely necessary to dilate farther 
upon the Germania in general or in particular ; 
we believe that we have achieved the task 
which we marked out for ourselves, and have 
conveyed to our readers a clear and distinct 
idea of what it is. We have shown that it 
has been erroneously confounded with the 
Rommany, or Gitano language, with which 
it has nevertheless some points of similarity. 
The two languages, are, at the present day, 
used for the same purpose, namelv, to enable 
habitual breakers of the law to carry on their 
consultations with more secresy and privacy 
than by the ordinary means. Yet, it must 
not be forgotten, that the thieves jargon was 



120 



THE ZINCALI. 



invented for that purpose, whilst the Rom- 1 
many, originally the proper and only speech ' 
of a particular nation, has been preserved j 
from falling into entire disuse and oblivion, i 
because adapted to answer the same end. It 
was impossible to treat of the Rommany in a 
manner calculated to exhaust the subject, and 
to leave no ground for future cavilling, with- 
out devoting a considerable space to the con- 
sideration of the other dialect, on which ac- j 
count we hope we shall be excused many of | 
the dry details which we have introduced into 
the present essay. There is a link of con- 
nexion between the history of the Roma, or 
wanderers from Hindustan, who first made 
their appearance in Europe at the commence- 
ment of the fifteenth century, and that of mo- 
dern roguery. Many of the arts which the 
Gypsies proudly call their own, and which 
were perhaps at one period peculiar to them, 
have become divulged, and are now practised 
by the thievish gentry who infest the various 
European states, a result which, we may as- 
sert with confidence, was brought about by 
the alliance of the Gypsies being eagerly 
Bought on their first arrival by the thieves, 
who, at one period, were less skilful than the 
former in the ways of deceit and plunder; 



which kind of association continued and held 
good, until the thieves had acquired all they 
wished to learn, when both parties retired to 
their proper and most congenial orbits, the 
Gypsies to the fields and plains, so dear to 
them from the vagabond and nomade habits, 
which had become identified with their na- 
ture, and the thieves and vagabonds of Eu- 
ropean origin to the towns and cities. Yet 
from this temporary association were pro- 
duced two results ; European fraud became 
sharpened by coming into contact with Asiatic 
craft, whilst European tongues, by impercep- 
tible degrees, became recruited with various 
words, (some of them wonderfully expressive,) 
many of which have long been stumbling, 
stocks to the philologist, who, whilst stigma- 
tizing them as words of mere vulgar inven- 
tion, or of unknown origin, has been far from 
dreaming that a little more research or re- 
flection would have proved their affinity to 
the Sclavonic, Persian, or Romaic, or perhaps 
to the mysterious object of his veneration, the 
Sanscrit, the sacred tongue of the palm- 
covered regions of Ind ; words originally in- 
troduced into Europe by objects too miserable 
to occupy for a moment his lettered attention, 
— the despised denizens of the tents of Roma. 



ADVERTISEMENT 



TO THE 



VOCABULARY. 



The Gypsy words in this Collection are written according to the Spanisli 
orthography: and their pronunciation is the Spanish; the rules for which need 
not be laid down, the Spanish language being at present very extensively cul- 
tivated in Europe, and a knowledge of it considered as forming part of a li- 
beral education. 

The words pointed out as derivatives, though tolerably numerous, are to be 
considered merely in the light of specimens of what may be accomplished. 
We are within compass, when stating, that there are hundreds of words in this 
Vocabulary which we could as easily have traced to the Sanscrit, Modern 
Greek, Sclavonian, &c. — and have forborne; it being our belief that the 
general scholar will peruse the following columns with increased interest, on 
perceiving that many roots have been left in the soil, which will not fail to 
reward his patient research. 

To those who may feel inclined, in some instances, to call in question the 
correctness of our derivations, we wish to observe, that in order to form an 
opinion on this point, it is necessary to be well acquainted with the manner 
in which not only the Gitanos, but the lower orders of the Spaniards them- 
selves, are in the habit of changing and transposing letters. In some provinces, 
the liquids are used indifferently for each other — I for r, r for n and Z, y for 
11, and vice versa. With respect to the Git&nos, they not only confuse the 
liquids, but frequently substitute the I for the d: for example, they have changed 
the Persian duriya, "the sea," into luriya; and in their word for "thunder," 
have afforded a curious instance how the change of a letter may render it diffi- 
cult to trace a word to its etymon: unacquainted with this habit of theirs, no 
one would venture to derive lurian, their term for "thunder," from the San- 
scrit; yet when spelt and pronounced durian, as it ought to be, the difficulty 
at once vanishes: durian being twin brother to the Celtic darian, which is 
clearly allied to the Danish torden, the German donner, the English thunder, 
which latter is but a slight modification of the Sanscrit indra. They likewise 
occasionally confound a liquid with a labial; saying, lombardo or bombardo indif- 
ferently, which word in their language signifies "a lion." 

We shall offer no examples as to their manner of transposing letters; but 
content ourselves with observing, that nothing is more common than such 
transpositions. With all its faults, we recommend this Vocabulary to the 
Reader, assuring him that it contains the elements of the speech of a most ex- 
traordinary people, the Spanish Gypsies — a speech which, if this memento 
preserve it not, must speedily be lost, and consigned to entire oblivion — a 
speech which we have collected in its last stage of decay, at the expense of 
much labour and peril, during five years spent in unhappy Spain — Spain, which 
we have traversed in all directions, mindful of the proverb— 

Chuquel sos pin'ila 
Cocal terda. 

121 



THE ZINCALI 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



Abatico, 5.7W. Father. Padre. 

Vid. Batu. 
Abelar, v. a. To have, possess. 

Tener. Sans, Ava.* 
Abertune, s. a. Foreigner, fo- 
reign. Forastero. 
Aberucar, v. n. To repent. 

Arrepentirse. 
Abicholar, v.n. To appear. Pa- 

recer. 
Abillelar, v. n. To come. Ve- 

nir. Pers. Amdan. Hin. Ana. 
Abx'x, adv. Out, abroad. Fuera. 

Pers. Badar. Sans. Vahira. 
Acaba, pron. dem. This. Este. 
Aca.ni,adv. Now. Ahora. Pers. 

Acnun. Saris. Adhuna. 
Acarar, v. a. To call. Llamar. 
Acatan, adv. Hither. Aca. 
Achibes, adv. To-day. Hoy. 

Hin. Ajhi. 
Achinelar, v. a. To cat. Cor- 

tar. 
Achogornar, v. n. To assist. 

Acudir. 
Acoi, adv. Here. A qui. 
Acores, 5. pi. Nuts. Nueces. 

Mod. Gr. xaovSi. 
Ajojoy, s.m. A hare. Liebre. 
Ajoro, s. m. Friday. Viernes. 
Ajua, s. m. Halter. Cabestro. 
Alachar, v. n. To meet. En- 

contrar. 
Alala, s.f. Joy, Alegria. Sans. 

Ullasa. 
Alangari, s.f. Grief, sorrow. 

Pesar. 
Alao, s. m. Word. Palabra. 
Alcarran, s. m. Drone. Zan- 

gano. 
Alcorabisar, v. a. To arrive at. 

Alcanzar. 
Alendarse, v. r. To rejoice. 

Alegrarse. Sans. Ananda. 
Alialy, s.f. Temper, disposi- 
tion. Genio. 
Alicati, s.f. Time, turn. Vez. 
Aligata, s.f. Side. Lado. 
AIigatas,6av. Justby. Al lado. 
Aljenique, s.f. Fountain. Fu- J 

ente. 



Almedalle, s.f. Almond. Al- 

mendra. 
Almensalle, s.f. Table. Me- 
sa. 
Amal, s. m. Companion. Com- 

paiiero. 
A mala, 5./. Companion. Com- 

panera. 
Amartelar, v. n. To wither. 

Marchitar. 
Amini, s.f Anvil. Ayunque. 
Amolar, v. n. To be worth. 

Valer. 
Ampio,5.?re. Oil. 0!eo,aceyte. 

Sans. Abhyanjana. 
Ampio majaro, Holy oil. Santo 

6leo. 
Amucharse, v. r. To intoxicate 

oneself. Emborracharse. 
Amular, v. a. To hang, exe- 
cute, strangle. Ahorcar,dar 

garrote. 
An, s.pl. Things, matters. 

Cosas. Mod. Gr. ov (being 

existence.) 
Anacar, v. impers. To happen. 

Suceder. 
Anarania > adv. Amen, so be it. 
Anariana ) Amen, asi sea. 
Andandula, s. f. Fox. Raposa. 

Andingla, s.f. Girth. Cincha. 
Andoba, pron. dem. This. Este. 
Andoriles, s.pl. Strings, gar- 
ters. Ligas. 
Andre, adv. prep. In, within. 

En, dentro. Pers. Andar. 

Sans. Antare. 
Anduque, adv. Whither. Adon- 

de. 
Anduyo, s. m. Lamp. Velon. 
Anglal, adv. Before, forward. 

Delante. Hin. Age. 
Anglano, s. m. A publican. 

Publica.no. 
Angrunio, s. m. Lock, bolt. 

Cermjo. Sans. Argala. [Germ. 

Riegel.] 
An<rui, s.f. Honey. Miel. Pers. 

Angbin. 
Angusti, s.f. Finger. Dedo. 



j Pers. Angusht. Sans. Agru, 
Anguri. 
Angustro,5. 771. A ring. Anillb. 
Pers. Angushtari. Sans. An- 
guriya. 
Anis, s.f. Wasp. Avispa. 
Anjella, prep. Before. Antes, 
Anjelo, s. m. Desire. Deseo. 
Anro,5. m. Egg. Huevo. Sans. 
Anda. Both in Sanscrit and 
Gypsy, this word signifies a 
testicle. 
Ansul, adj. Sick. Enfermo. 
Aocana. Vid. Acana. 
Aopler, v. a. To open. Abrir. 
Aotar, adv. Yonder. Alia. 
Aoter, adv. There. Alii. 
Apajenar, v. a. To approach. 

Acercar. 
Apala, prep. Behind. Detras. 

Sans. Apara. [Fr. Apres.] 
Aparati, s.f. Cloud. Nube. 

Pers. Abar." 
Apenar, v. a. To take. Tomar. 

Hin. Pana. 
Apuchelar, v.n. To live, dwell. 

Vivir, habitar. Sans. Piji. 
Apucheris, s.p^l. The living. 

Los vivos. 
Aquia, s.f. The eye. Ojo. Sans. 

Akshi. Germ. Auge. 
Aquinbilaneto, s. m. Attend- 
ance, accompaniment. Ac- 
companamiento. 
Aquirimen, s.f. Affection. Afi- 

cion. 
Aquirindoy, adj. Affected. Afi- 
cionado. 
Aracate,s. m. Guard. Guarda. 
Aracatear, v. a. To guard. 

Guardar. 
Arachi, adv. Last night. Ano- 

che. 
Arajambi,s./. Under-petticoat. 

Zagalejo. 
Arajay, s. m. Friar. Frayle. 

Arab. Raheb. 
Araperar, v. a. To remember. 

Acordar. 
Arapuchi, s.f. Tortoise. Gala- 
pago. Sans. Kachchhapa, 
Krodapada. TiMs.Cherepakia, 



* As there are no Sanscrit types in this country, and no Arabic of the proper size, we have been compelled to 
put our author's .Sanscrit, Persian, and Arabic etymologies in Roman characters; which to the majority oi 
readers will be rather a subject of felicitation than of regret. Jn so doing we have followed the usual and most 
convenient course, giving the English sound to the consonants, and the Italian to the vowels, hi Shemitish 
words the combinations with //. are to he pronounced as follows: i,h like v.dk like th in thine, th like th in thin, and 
kh like ch in German, or the Greek /; but in words from the Sanscrit, Hlndostanee, &c, the first letter of the 
combination retains its hard sound, which is simply followed by an aspirate; thus hh is to be pronounced as in 
ahhor, ilk as in mad-house, 6ic. The long vowels are designated by an acute accent. An apostrophe ('; represents 
the Sheinitish letter Ayiu. A few additional etymologies are placed between brackets.— Am. Ed. 

123 



124 



THE ZINCALI. 



Araquerar, v. a. To speak, talk, 

call. Hablar. llamar. Sans. 

Rata. 
Araquerepenes,s .pi. Sayings. 

Dichos. 
Arara, s.f. Pledge. Prenda. 
Arari, adj. Pregnant. Pre- 

nada. 
Arasno, s. m. Fear. Miedo. 
Arate, s. m. Blood. Sangre. 
Archabar,-». a. To serve. Ser- 

vir. Sans. Abhichara, Pari- 

chara, (servant.) 

"} v. a. To raise. Le- 

Ardelar vantar. Sans. 

! Arohana. 

^(rising.) Celtic, 

Ardinelar Ard (high, ex- 

J alted.) 
Ardoria, s.f. Vein. Vena. [Lat. 

Arteria.] 
Arispejal, s. m. Metal. Metal, 

Sans.Ara. (brass;) Pitala (yel- 
low, ) literally yellow brass. 
Arite, s. m. Lentil. Lenteja. 
Arjana, s.f. Salad. Ensalada. 
Armensalle, adj. Free. Libre. 
Aromali, adv. Verily, indeed. 

En verdad. 
Aruje, 5. in. Wolf. Lobo. Hin. 

Bheruha. 
Asaselarse, v. r. To rejoice, to 

laugh. Alegrarse, reirse. Hin. 

Hansna. 
Ashios, pron.pl. Those. Aquel- 

los. 
Asislable, adj. Powerful. Po- 

deroso. 
Asislar, v. a. To be able. Po- 

der. Vid. Astisar. 
Asisnastri, s.f. Apprentice. 

Aprendiz. 
Asisprole, s. m. Brass. Bronce. 
Asna.o, s.m. Name, word. Vid. 

Alao. 
Asparabar, v. a. To break, tear. 

Romper, lacerar. Gr. ana- 

Astis, a. Possible. Posible. 
Astisar, v. a. To be able. Po- 

der. 
Astra, s.f. Moon, star. Luna. 

Estrella. [Sans. Tara, Zend. 

Stara. Gr. aarrjQ.li 
Atelis, adv. Below. Abajo. Vid. 

Ostele. Turk. Altandeh. Hin. 

Tule. 
Aterni, s. a. Dead-born. Na- 

cido muerto. This word in 

Sanscrit signifies pregnant 

Udarin. 

m. Steel : ra 
Acero. Sans 



Atudiesalle, 
thcr iron. 
Ayasa 

Avel 



Aver 



adj. Other, another, 

Otro. 
Sans. Apara. Arab. 
Ghair. 

Aunsos,cory.Although.Aunque. 

Aupre, adv. Above. Arriba. 

\Gr. v7rtQ. Germ. Ueber. 

Eng. Over.] 

Ayes, adv. Yet, nevertheless. 

Aim. 
Ayore, adv. Above. Arriba. 
[See Aupre.] 



'Azia, s.f. Mill. Molino. Pers. 

Asya. 
Azimache, s.f. Sign. Sena. 

B. 

Babinar, v. a. To extinguish. 
Apagar. 

Bachildoy, s.f. Loose-hair. 
Melena. 

Bacria, s.f. A goat. Cabra. 

Bajanbar, v. a. To touch. To- 
car. Hin. Pukurna. 

Bajatia, s.f. A bell. Campana. 
A derivative from the pre- 
ceding word. 

Baji,s./. Luck, fortune. Suerte, 
ventura. — Penar baji, " to 
tell fortunes," Decir la bue- 
na ventura. Sans. Bhagaya. 
Pers. Bakht. Instead of this 
word, the English Gypsies 
make use of a derivative 
from the Sclavonian, duk- 
kerin. In their dialect, to 
tell fortunes is " penaw duk- 
kerin." 

Bajilache, s. m. Deer, venison. 
Venado. 

Bajin, s. m. Event. Caso. — 
Bajine, " that which has 
happened." Acaecido. 

Bajuma, 5./. Bug. Chinche. 

Bal, s.f.. Garden, kitchen-gar- 
den. Jardin, huerta. Sans. 
Vela. 

Bal, s.f. Hair. Pelo. Sans. 
Bala. Gr. palog. Mod. Gr. 
uaXku 

Balbalo, adj. Rich, strong. 
Rico, • fuerte. Pers. Pahlii. 
Sans. Balavag. 

Baliba, s.f. Bacon, Tocino. 

Balicho, s. m. Hog. Marra.no. 
Sans. Balin. Hin. Barah. 

Ballestera, s.f. Pigeon. Palo- 
ma. Mod. Gr. TtiQionqa. 

Ballestero, s. m. Cock-pigeon. 
Palomo. 

Balogar, v. a. To fly. Volar. 

Balunes,5.pZ. Pantaloons. Pan- 
talones. 

Baluni, s.f. Wild-goat, cha- 
mois. Corza, gamiiza. 

)s.f. Shop, cel- 
lar; also Gal- 
lows. Botica, 
bodega, tarn-' 
bien, horca. 

Bar, s.f. Stone. Piedra. Hin. 
Puthur. 

Bar lacln, s.f The loadstone. 
La piedra iman. — Connected 
with this word there is a 
kind of magic rhyme,* used 
by the Gypsy women in their 
incantations; it runs as fol- 
lows: 

En el beji d'Olivdte entrisard, 
Trin Hraqtiia callardia encontrisar6, 
En trin tmdnfl las oidriiisare, 

Y trin quir.iiis callardia nicobfl: 
Yoque se lo dinulo A la bar lachi 
Pura que me nicobele de meripa; 

Y 'laver se in dtBelo & Padilla romi 
Con sarin bu suesu; 



* Of this rhyme there is a transla- 
tion in the first volume. 



Y '1 aver al Bengui langd 
Para que m'otorguisarele lo que ca- 
melo yo. 

Baraca, s.f. Winter. Invierno. 

Barader, s. m. Justice of peace, 
a person of authority. Al- 
calde, hombre principal. 

Barandi, s.f. Back, shoulder. 
Espalda. 

Barani. s.f. Galley. Galera. 

Barbalu, s.m. Physician. Me- 
dico. 

Barban, s. m. Wind, air. Vien- 
to, ayre. Vid. Bear. Sans. 
Pradhavana, Pavana. 

Barchata, s.f. Knobbed stick. 
Porra. 

Bardadi, adj. Empty. Vacio. 

Bardi, s.f. Prison. Carcel. 

Bardon, 5. m. Reason. Razon. 

Bardroy, adj. Green. Verde. 
Sans. Bharita. 

Barendani, s.f. Stone. Piedra. 
Vid. Bar. 

Bares del mol, n.p. Vol depe- 
nas; literally, " The rocks of 
the wine," Penas del vino. 

Bargana, s.f. f War. Guerra. 
Pers. Perkhash. 

Baribu, adj. Much. Mucho. 
Sans. Puru. 

Baricuntus, s. m. The Captain 
or Count of a band of Gita- 
nos, — a governor; literally, 
The Great Count. El Capi- 
tan 6 Conde de una tropa de 
Jitanos, — gobernador. 

Baro, adj.; pi. bareles; Great 
Grande. Hin. Bura. 

5K&>* J ° hn - J -°- 

Barsamia, adv. Enough. Bas- 
tante. 

Bartrabe, adv. Without. Fuera. 
Moorish Arabic, Barra. 

Bartrabes, adv. Contrariwise. 
Al reves. 

Bas, s.f; pi. bastes; The hand. 
Mano. Pers. Bazu. 

Basno,5.m. Cock. Gallo. Sans. 
Puchchhinu. 

Bastardo, s. a. Affliction, evil, 
prison. Afliccion, mal, car- 
cel. The proper significa- 
tion of this word is probably 
slavery. Pers. Parastari. 

Bastarre, s.f. The right-hand. 
La derecha. 

Basto, adj. Evil. Malo. v. Bas- 
tardo. | 

Basya, s.f. Sleeve. Manga. 

Batane, s. m. Calf. Becerro. 
"1 5. 7/1.; pi. batuces; Fa- 

Bato (^ ther. Padre. From 

Batu [ the Russian word, ba- 
J tuschka. 

Bato Majoro, The Holy Father, 
the Pope. El Padre Santo. 

Bausale, s.f. Cause. Causa. 

Bnyopio, adj. Maimed, one- 
handed. Manco. 

Bazan, pron. dcm. pi. fem. 
Tliese. Estas. 

Bazin, pron. dcm. pi. mas. 
These. Estos. 

Beao, s. m. A lord, a gentle- 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



125 



man. SeSor, caballero. Turk. 
Beg. 

Bear, > s. to. Wind,air.Vien- 

Bearbal, $ to, ay re. Hin. Bara. 

Beda, s.f Manner, way, cus- 
tom. Manera, costumbre. 

Bedar, > v. a. To Teach. En- 

Bedelar, > senar. It has many 
other meanings; e.g. Bedar 
or yaque, " To light the 
fire." Encender fuego. — 
Bedar or chiros. — " To pass 
the time:" Pasar el tiempo, 
&c. 

Bede de mulo, "Funeral of 
the dead." El entierro de 
un difunto. 

Bedora, \s.f A girl, virgin. 

Bedori, > Muchacha, virjen. 

Bedoro, s. m. Boy, youth. Mu- 
chacho, joven. Arab. Badr. 

Bedrajami, s. m. Giant. Ji- 
gante. Pers. Bah ad ar, [strong 
man.] Sans. Patti, Vikramin. 

*?*?> ]s.m. Cart. Carro. 
Berdo, $ 

Bejanbi,s./. Fault, crime. De- 
lito. 

Bejari, 5./. Female lizard. La- 
garta. Lagartija. 

Bejelar, v. n. To take a seat. 
Asentar. 

Belga, adv. There. Alii. 

Bella, s.f. War. Guerra. 

Beluni, s.f. A calash. Calesa. 

Beluni, s.f. Queen. Reyna. 
Pers. Banu. Sans. Battini. 
[Welsh, Brenhines.] 

Bengue, >*.m. Devil, evil 

Bengui, $ spirit. Demonio, 
espiritu malo. Sans. Panka, 
i. e. mud, bog. According 
to the Hindoo mythology, 
there is a hell of mud, called 
Bengraprabha: the Bengues 
of the Gypsies appear to be 
the tenants of this hell. The 
Russian Bog (God,) and the 
English nursery demon, Bo- 
gey, are possibly derived 
from the same Sanscrit 
root. 

Benseni, s.f Audience. Au- 
diencia. 

Beo, s. to. Las partes vergon- 
zosas de una mujer. Sans. 
Bhaga. Hin. Bhug. 

Beo, s. m. Prison. Carcel. 

Berabar, v. a. To save. Salvar. 

Berallas, s.f pi. Bee-hives. 
Colmenas. 

Beralli, s.f. Galley. Galera. 

Berbal, s. to. Picture. Cuadro. 

Berbel, s.m. Looking-glass. 
Espejo. 

Berbirincha, s.f Star-lizard. 
Salamanquesa. — The proper 
meaning is squirrel, which is 
an animal rarely found in 
Spain. Mod. Gr. SenftiQirta. 
Ardilla. 

Berdacufii,.?./. Window. Ven- 
tana. 

Berdeji, s m. Lizard. Lagarto. 

Berdi, s.f. Quarrel, dispute. 
Rina. Perhaps from the 
17 



Scandinavian word Barda, 
"to fight." 
Berdo, s. to. A ship. Navio. 

Vid. Bero. 
Berdoche, s. to. Coach. Coche. 
Beribu, s.f. Multitude. Multi- 
tud. Vid. Baribu. 

Beriga, s.f. Chain. Cadena. 
Rus. Veriga. 

Berilli, s.f. Wasp. Avispa. 
Hin. Birnee. 

Berjar, v. a. To find. Hallar. 

Berji,s. m. A year. Aiio. Hin. 
Burukh. 

Bero, 5. m. Galley; garrison to 
which criminals are sent for 
hard labour. Galera, presi- 
dio. Sans. Padara. 

Berquero, s. to. Wen. Loba- 
nillo. 

Berrandana, s.f. Stone. Pie- 
dra. Vid. Barendani. 

Berrinches, s. pi. Lemons. Li- 
mones. 

Bersali, s. Spy. Espia. 

Berseji, s.f. VVar, quarrel. Gu- 
erra, rina. 

Berseli, adj. Coarse, rude. Bas- 
to. 

Berteleri, s.f Appellation. 
Apelacion. Perhaps Word, 
from the Sanscrit. 

Beruni, s.f. Balcony. Balcon. 

Beslli, s.f. War, dispute. Gu- 
erra, quimera. Vid. Bella. 

Besiii,s./. Window. Ventana. 
Pers. Bin (seeing.) 

Bestale, ) s. Seat, chair, saddle 

Besti, 5 bench. Silla, banco. 

Bestelar, v. a. To sit. Asen 
tar. 

Bestipen, s.f Wealth, riches. 
Riqueza. 

Bestique, par. Seated. Asen- 
tado. 

Beyio, adj. Single, singular 
Solo, iinico. 

Bian,acZj. Twenty-three.Veinte 
y tres. g 

Bica, s.f Chair. Silla. 

Bichabar, v. a. To send. En- 
viar. Hin. Bhejwa'd. Sans. 
Visa, Vikshepa (casting.) 

Bichola, s.f Likeness, simi- 
litude. Semejanza. 

Bicholar, v. n. To appear. Pa- 
recer. Vid. Abicholar. 

Biere, s. to. Glass. Vidrio. 

Bifi, s.f. Snow. Nieve. Pers. 
Barf. 

Bigorear, v. a. To arrive. Lie- 
gar. 

Binar, v. a. To sell. Vender. 
Sans. Vikrayana. (selling.) 
Panana. (sale.) Hin. Bikna. 
Arab. Bai. 

Bique, s. to. Edict, Cartel. 

Biruquero, s.m. Carpenter. 
Carpintero. 

B\s,adj. Twenty. Veinte. Hin. 
Bis. 

Bisarar. v. a. To owe. Deber. 

Bisinia, s.f. Pasture-ground. 
Dehesa. 

Bisna, 5./. Sale. Venta. Vid. 
Binar. 

M 



Bispaparo, s. m. Grandfather. 

Abuelo. 
Bispibi, s.f. Hornet. Avispon. 
Blani, s.f. Jacket. Chaquett- 
Blejo, adj. Slouched. Sesgo. 
Bobes, s.jd. Beans. Habas. 

Rus. Boby. Hin. Lnbiya. 
Boltani,5./. Turn. Vue'lta. 
Bombardo, s.m. Lion. Leon. 

Ilin. Bubur. 
Bomboi, adj. Foolish. Tonto. 
Bonbachi, s.f. Pipe. Pipa. 

Boqui, )'•/'. Hunger fa- 
r> -v > mine. — Hambre. 
Boqms,^ £ flj^Bhakh. 

Bordani, s.f. Tower, castle. 

Torre, castillo. 
Bordeles, s.pl. Christians. Cris- 

tianos. 
Bosnansibla, s.f. Confidence. 

Confianza. Query, Possibi- 

lity. Rus. Vosinojgnost. 
Bostan, s. to. Linen. Lienzo. 
Bostan, adj. Weak, feeble. 

Flojo. 

Bozuchoy,} 5 - w - Abear ° so 
Brabani, adj. Valiant. Valiente. 

[Fr. Brave.] 
Braco, s. m. Mutton. Carnero. 
Bracuiu, s.f. A sheep. Oveja. 
Braga-lachi, Much shame. 

Mucha verguenza. 
Bragante, adj. Made of straw. 

Pajizo. 
Brajata, s.f. Necessity. Nece- 

sidad. 
Braji, s.f Sheep. Oveja. Pars. 

Barah. 
Brajial, s. m. Hospital. Hospi- 
tal. 
Breji, s. m. Field, mountain. 

Campo, monte. Hin. Bur (a 

desert.) 
Brequejo, adj. par. Obliged 

Obligado. 
Brequenar, v. a. Defend, de- 
fender. 
Bresban, adj. Blessed. Ben- 

dito. Possibly that which is 

connected with Brahman or 

Brahma. 
Bretegeli, s.f pi. Delights. De- 

licias. 
Brichardilar, v. a. To ask, im- 
plore. Rogar. 
Bricholar, v. a. To bear, suffer 

Padecer. 
Bridaque, s. A break, rupture. 

Quiebra. 
Bridaquelar, v. a. To break. 

Romper, quebrar. 
Brijindal, s. Rain, shower. 

Lluvia. Pers. Biiran. Sans. 

Purana. Mod. Gr. pQQXV- 
Brijindar,u.n. To rain. Llovtr. 
Brijindobio, S. to. Hunchback. 

Jorobado. Sans. Bhangura. 
Brijindope,5.??i. Deluge, mighty 

rain. Diluvio. 
Brinda, s.f. A pear. Pora, 

fruta. 
Brinsela, s.f. Bottle. Botella. 
Brinza, sf, flesh, meat. (Carrie 
Broba, \s.f. Pompinn. cala- 
Brobia, ) bash. Calabazu. 



126 



THE ZINCALI. 



Brochabo, s. m. Boy, lad. Mu- 
ch ac ho. 

Brodelo, s. and adj. Third, 
third party, mediator. Ter- 
cero. 

Brojuchi, s.f. Pink, flower, 
Clavel. 

Brondo, conj. But, yet. Pero. 

Brono Alienicato, n. pr. Pon- 
tius Pilate. Poncio Pilato. 

Bros, adj.pron. Your, yours. 
Vuestro. 

Brosibana,5/. Bramble. Zarza. 
Hin. Bhur-band. 

Brostildan, s.m. Mayor, jus- 
tice of peace. Alcalde. 

Brote, s. m. Camel. Camello. 

Brotobo, )adj. First. Pri- 

Brotoboro, ) mero. Gr.TQanog. 

Brotomuchi, s.f. The spring. 
Primavera. 

Brotomucho, s.m. First-cou- 
sin. Primo-hermano. 

Brucharno, s.m. A shot. Tiro. 

Bruchino, s. m. Dried cod-fish. 
Bacallao. 

Brudilar,z?. d. To answer. Con- 
testar, responder. Vid. Ru- 
dilar. 

Bruja, s.f. The Holy Brother- 
hood, La Santa Hermandad. 
This word is a cant term 
(Bruja, in Spanish means a 
witch,) and does not proper- 
ly belong to the Gitano lan- 
guage. 

Bruji, s.f. A real, a Spanish 
coin. Un real. 

Brum, s.f. A she-goat. Cabra. 

Bruinito, s.m. A kid. Cabrito. 

Bucharar,t>. a. To shoot. Tirar. 
— This word has numerous 
significations; e.g. Bucharar 
la baste, " To extend the 
hand :" Extender la mano. — 
Me bucharela l'errate, "My 
blood beats." Me arde la 
sangre. Sans. Vikshepa. Vid. 
Bichabar. 

Buchi, s.f. Any thing, the 
public executioner. Cual- 
quiera cosa, el verdugo. 

Bucos, s.m. Liver. Higado. 
Sans. Bukka (heart.) 

Bufa, s.f. Crib, manger. Pese- 
bre. 

Bufaire, s. m. A king's evi- 
dence, informer, cat. So- 
plon, gato. 

Bufendi, adv. Better. (From 
bus, " more," and fendi, 
"good.") Mejor. 

Bujendi, s. m. Catamite. Bu- 
jarron. 

Bujibio, s.m. Hunchback. Jo- 
robado. 

n , ~)s. The anus, orificio. 

ii it > &ins.Put.Phalaka. 
Uullati, ^ Ilin BiJ 

Bullas, s.f.pl. Gray hairs. Ca- 

nas. 
Bundal, s.f. Gate, door. Puer- 

ta. Vid. Burda. 
Buque, s. m. Point. Punto. 

Sans. Makada (^peak.) 
Buquepe,^. Account, informa- 



tion given to the ministers 
of justice. Cuenta dada a. la 
justicia. Arab. Wokuf. 

Bur, s. m. Mountain. Monta- 
na. Rus. Bugor. 

Burda, s.f. Gate, door. Puerta. 
Sans. Puradwara,(of a town.) 
Hin. Bur. 

Burlo,.s. m. Play, sport. Juego. 

Bus, adv. and conj. More, but, 
yet. Mas, pero. 

Bus, adv. When. Cuando. 

Busne, adj. Sweet. Dulce. 

Busno, s. m. A gentile, a sa- 
vage, every person who is 
not of the Gypsy sect. Jen- 
til, salvaje ; asi llaman los 
Jitancs al que no es dela 
sangre de ellos.^The Eng- 
lish Gypsies make use of 
the word Tororo in this 
sense, which signifies what 
is poor and pitiful ; See Cho- 
roro. The root of Busno is 
probably the Sans. Purusha 
(a man in general) or Puk- 
kasa, an impure person, 
"Busurman," in the Rus- 
sian tongue, signifies **A 
heathen." 

Busne, s. pi. The Gentiles, sa- 
vages. Los Jentiles, los sal- 
vajes. 

Busnos, s.pl. Torments, pains. 
Tormentos. 

Busorala, adj. Ripe. Maduro. 

Buste, s.f. The act of sticking 
or joining together. Pega- 
dura. Pers. Baslah. 

Butacole, adj. Yellow, Ama- 
rillo. Sans. Pitala. 

Butanar, v. a. To drain, spill, 
scatter. Derramar. 

Butrl' \ adv - More * Mas ' 
Butron, s. m. Abyss, a deep 
hole. Abismo, hoyo profun- 
do. This word is evidently 
derived from the Sanscrit 
Avada. Mod. Gr. (ivdog. Eng- 
lish, Pit. 



Caba, pron. dem. This. Este. 
Vid. Acaba. 

Cabana, 5./. Tomb, grave. Se- 
pultura. Moorish Arab. Ca- 
war. 

Cabanar, v. a. To bury. En- 
terrar. Mod. Gr. oxanrw. 

Cacabi,s./. A kettle. Caldera. 
This word is pure Greek, 
x.a%K(x(}*}. 

Cacalufii, s.f Species of earth- 
en pan. Cazuela. 

Cacarabi, s. m. A crow. Grajo. 
Sans. Kaka, Karava. [Lat. 
Corvus.] 

Cachas, s-f.pl. Scissors. Tije- 
ras. Sans. Katraro. 

Cachicalli, *./. Female rela- 
tion. Parienta. 

Cachimani, s.f. Brandy-shop, 
tavern. Aquardienteria, ta 
berna. Query. The seller of 
brandy, from Kasya, a kind 



of liquor. Rus. Quass, and 

Manuj, man. 
Cafi, s.f. Nail. Clavo. Mod. Gr. 

xao<t>i. 
Cajuco, adj. Deaf. Sordo. 
Cajuguy, s.f. File. Lima. 
Calabea, s.f Lie, falsehood. 

Mentira. Arab. Khelaf. 
Calabear, v. a. To lie. Mentir. 
Calafresa, s.f. Chitterlings. 

Asadura. 
Calas, s.pl. The Gypsies. Ji- 

tanos. Vid. Calo." 
Calisen, s.f. Death. Muerte. 

Sans. Kala. 
Callicaste, adv. Yesterday. 

Ayer. 
Callico, s. m. Dawn. Madru- 

gada. Sans. Kalya. 
Callardo, adj. Black. Negro. 

~\ s. m. A Gypsy, a 
Calo, [ black. Jitano,hom- 
Caloro, f bre negro. Sans. 

J Kala. Hin. id. 
Calli, s.f. A Gypsy woman. 

Jitana. 
Calochin, s. m. Heart Corazon. 

Properly, liver. Sans. Ka- 

lah-kanjana. 
Caltrabo, s. m. Convict-garri- 
son. Presidio. 
Calumbrico, s. m. Understand- 
ing. Entendimiento. Sans. 

Kalandika. Mod. Gr. xara- 

XctuBavw, to M understand." 
Cam,) s. m. Sun. Sol. Hin. 
Can, ) Khan. Sans. Khamani. 
Camaranchas, s.f. pi. Buttons. 

Botones. 
Cambarii, s.f. Shop. Tienda. 
Cambrai, s.m. Dog. Perro. 
' [Arab. Calb.] 
^ , / } adj. fern. Preg- 

Cambrobi, $ ^ Garbhino. 
Camelar, v. a. To love. Amar. 

Sans. Kama, Kama. (Love, 

Cupid.) 
Cameni, s.f. Shop. Tienda. 

Pers. Carkhaneh. The root 

is the Sans. Karmman (work, 

action.) 
Camuchi, s. Heel-bone. Zan 

cajo. 
Cana, s.f Hour. Hora. 
Cana, s.f. A Bell. Campana. 
Canbrar, ca. To love. Amar. 

Vid. Camelar. 
Canbuter, s. m. Sorcerer,^ wi- 
zard. Hechicero. Sans. Karm- 

mana (magic.) Russ. Cal- 

dun. 
Canche, s.m. Saturday. Sa- 

bado. 
Candon,s.?n. Companion. Com- 

pafiero. 
Candor ry,s.r/2. Christian. Cris- 

tiano. 
Cangallo, 5. m. Wagon, cart. 

Carro. Properly, one that is 

tilted from Kambala (a 

blanket.) 
Cangri, 5 /. Church. Iglesia. 

The literal meaning appears 

to be Tower. Pers. Cun- 

gurah. 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



12' 



Cangrias, s.f. pi. Heels of 

shoes. Tapas delos zapatos. 
Canguelar, v. a. To fear. Te- 
rrier. Sans. Kampana (trem- 
bling.) 
Canguelo, s. m. Fear. Temor. 

Cani, s.f. Ear. Oreja. Sans. 
Kama. Hin. Kaun. 

Canrea, s.f. Pity. Lastima 
Sans. Karuna. Hin. Kuruna. 

Canriano, s. m. Summer. Ve- 
rano. Mod. Gr.xaloxaiQi. 

Canrias, s.f.pl. Troubles. Fa- 
tigas. 

Canro, s. m. Neck. Pescuezo. 

Canucho, s. m. Heel-bone, stu- 
pid person. Zancajo. 

Cani, s.f. Hen. Gallina. 

Canismi, s.f. Forge. Fragua. 

Capirima, s.f. Aloe. La Pita. 
Mod. Gr. xaTiTcaQi. 

Capucho, s. m. Child's cap. 
Capillo. 

Car, s. m. Heat. Calor. Sans. 
Khara. Arab. Kharr. 

Carbe, s. m. Dike. Malecon. 

Carema, s.f. Word. Palabra. 
Arab. Calam. 

Carjibar, v. a. To finish. Fene- 
cer. 

Carlo. 5. m. Heart. Corazon. 
Arab. Kalb. 

Carmujon,5. m. Mouse. Raton. 

Carobi, s.f. Staple, ring. Ar- 
golla. Query, bracelet. Sans. 
Karabhushana. 

Cartacaya, s.f. Stork, heron. 
Cigiiena, Sans. Karetu. 

Cartrabar, v. a. To load. Car- 
gar. 

Casabo, s.m. Liver. Higado. 

Cascane, s. m.. Avaricious, stin- 
gy. Pers. Gursneh (hungry.) 

Cascane, s.m. Tuesday: ac- 
cording to others, Thursday, 
Martes, Jueves. 

Casian, s.f. Wood, timber. 
Madera. 

Casidazo, s. m. March, month 
of Marzo. 

Casinoben, s. m. Hell. Infierno. 
Literally, A blaze, conflagra- 
tion. Mod. Gr. xav<rtfiov. 

Caste, s. m. A stick. Palo. The 
true meaning is, Tree. Sans. 
Kachchha. (wood.) Pers. 
Eghaj. Hin. Gachh. 

Caste-randador, s. m. A work- 
ing-stick, i. e. a plough. Ara- 
do. 

Casto, s. m. Hammer. Martillo. 

Castorro, s.m. Hat. Sombrero. 

Castumba, s.f. The province 
of Castile. Castilla. 

Cata, adj. Every. Cada. 

Catabranar, v. n. To roar. Bra- 
mar. 

Catacolla, s.f. Stork, crane. 
Ciguena. 

Catanar,? 1 '-*. T o assemble. 

Cataiiar { Juntar.2ftn.Ckhu- 
' ) than-k. 

Catane, pi. Catanes. adj. Uni- 
ted, assembled. Junto, jun- 
tos. 

Catesca,s./. Spot, mark. Pinta. 



Caute, adj. None, not one. 

Ningun, ninguno. 
Cayes, s.pt. Heavens. Cielos. 
Cayque, s. m. Nobody. Nadie. 
Cende, s.f. Light. Luz. 

Cengarica, s.f. Desire. Gana. 
Sans. Kanksha. Peis. Kha- 
ter khah. Hin. Chana (to 
desire.) 

Ciria, s.f. Passover, Easter. 
Pascua. 

Ciria, s.f. Garlick. Ajo. Hin. 
Seer. Fid. Sar. 

Claby, s.f. Earthen pan, pip- 
kin. Cazuela. 

Clarico, s. m. Dawn. Madru- 
gada. Vid. Callico. 

Clasma, s.f. Queen. Revna. 
Vid. Crallisa. 

Clemaco, s. m. Hunter. Caz- 
dor. 

Clichi, s.f. Key. Llave. Rus. 
Clootch. The root is Sanscrit, 
Kilaka (bolt.) 

Clonel, s. m. Pink. Clavel. 

Cobadrar, v. n. To bark. La- 
drar. Arab. Kavvwaha. Rus. 
Gabh. 

Cobler, 5. ra. Elbow. Codo. 
Sans. Kurppara. 

Coca], s.m. Bone. Hueso. 
Mod. Gr. y.oy.xalov. Sans. 
Kulya. 

Cocal ie Lubano. Bone of the 
navel. Hueso del empeyne. 

Cocalis, pi. Bones. Huesos. 

Cochoco, s.m. Evergreen oak. 
Encina. 

Cochoglera, s.f. Oil-cruse. Al- 
cuza. 

Coco, s. m. Nut. Nuez. 

Cocole, s.m. Number. Nume- 
ro. 

Coin, pron. rel. Who, Quien. 
Hin. Kaun, 

Colcoro, adj. Alone. Solo. 

Coligote, s.m. Bat. Murcie- 
lago. 

Combo, adj. Dumb. Mudo. 
Sans. Muka. 

Conche, s.m. Anger. Coraje. 

Condari, s.f. Beam. Viga. 
Hin. Kandee. Sans. Kanda. 

Contique,s. m. Neighbour. Ve- 
cino. 

Coplemande,s. m. Coward. Co- 
barde. 

Coracano, s. m. Guard. Guarda. 

Corajai, s.pl. The Moors. Los 
Moros. Probably derived 
from the word Kurreh, a 
term of execration and con- 
tempt too frequently em- 
ployed by the common Moors 
in their discourse. 

Corajano, s. and adj. Moor, 
Moorish. Moro, Moruno. 

Corbo, adj. Strange. Estrano. 

Corby, s.f. Branch, shoot, 
sprig. Rama. 

Corcorria, s. f. Solitude. Sole- 
dad. Vid. Colcoro. 

Cori, s.f. Island. Isla. 

Coria, s.f. Large jar. Tinaja. 

Corio, s. m. An ochavo, a small 
brass coin. Ochavo. 



Coripen, s.f. Trouble, afflic- 
tion. Tribulacion, aflicion. 

1 Cormuni, adj. Some. Alguno. 

.Comes, s.pl. Buskins. Bo- 
tines. [Gr. uaAoQvoi.] 
Comicha, s.f. Basket. Espu- 

erta. Sans. Karanda. 
Coro, s. in. Pitcher. Cantaro. 

Hin. Ghurola. 
Corpichi, s.f. Rice. Arroz. 

Sans. Kur. 
Oorvovo, udj. One-eyed. Tuer- 

to. 
Costiiii, 5./. Tax levied on 
horses sold at fairs. Alcab.i- 
la. Literally, "The mount- 
ing," or " tax paid for mount- 
ing." Vid. Costunar. 

Costipen, s. m. The summer. 
Verano. 

Costunar, v.n. To mount. Mon- 
tar. Pers. Khastan. 

Costuri,5. Convent. Convento. 

Cotor, 5.771. A piece. Pedazo. 
Arab, Ket'at. 

Cotria.,adv. Immediately. Lue- 
go. 

Coyme, s. m. Farm-house. Cor- 
tijo. 

Crallis,s.m. King. Rey. From 
the Sclavoniun word Krai. 

Cralb'sa, s.f. Queen. Reyna. 

Crejete, s.pl. Sins. Pecados. 
Rus. Graike. 

Cremen. s.f. Worm. Lombriz. 
Sans. Krimi. 

Criscote, s.m. A book. Libro. 
Vid. Gabicote. 

Crisime, n.pr. Christ. Christo. 

Cro, s. m. Pair. Par. 

Cuarinda, s.f. Lent. Cuares- 
ma. 

Cucana, s f. Millet, Panic- 
grass. Panoja. Sans. Kangu. 

Cuchioyo, s. m. Sedge. LV 
parto. 

Cudo, s.?n. Mill. Molino. Hin. 
Kolhoo. 

Cueiii,5./. Cave. Cueva. Sans. 
Gahana. 

Cuji, s.f. Rose. Rosa. Pers. 
Gul. 

Culana, s.f. Bell. Campana. 
Sans. Kala (to sound.) Rus. 
Kolokol. 

Culco,5. m. Sunday. Domingo. 

Cumorra, s.f. Hall, chamber. 
Sala. Hin. Cumra. Germ. 
Kammer. 

Cundus, s. m. Count, lord. 
Conde. Mod. Gr.Komic. 

Curar, v. a. To strike, do, work. 
Pegar, hacer, tr aba jar. Hin. 
Gurhna. 

Curda,5./. Drunkenness. Bor- 
rachera. 

Curebay, s.f. Bit of a bridle. 
Bocado de freno. Sans. Ka- 
viya. 

Curelo, s.m. Trouble, pain. 
Trabajo, pena. 

Curolamiento, s.m. Carpenters 
plane. Cepillo de carpintero. 

Curoro, s.m. Colt. Potro. Hin 
Koorru. 

Curque, s. m. Sunday. Do- 



128 



THE ZINCALI. 



mingo. Modern Greek y.v- 

Curraco, s.m. Raven. Cuervo. 

Sans. K.ikala. 
Currandea, s.f Flat roof of a 

house, terrace. Azotea. 
Currandi, s.f. Veil. Mantilla. 
Currando, s. m. A hammer. 

Martillo. 
Curriel, s.m. Trade, business. 

Oficio. Sans. Karana. 

CH 

Chabel, s. m. Son. Hijo. 

Chabo, ) s. m. A boy, a child. 

Chaboro, J Muchacho, niiio. 
In the English dialect, Chab: 
e. g. Rommany Chab, " A 
Gypsy boy" or "fellow;'' 
whence the cant expression, 
Rum Chap. Arab. Shab. Sans. 
Arbha. 

Chabori,s./. A girl. Muchacha. 

Chachipe, s.f. Truth. Verdad. 
— This word which the 
English Gypsies pronounce 
Tsatsipe 1 seems to be a com- 
pound of the Sanscrit, Sat, 
which signifies " True," and 
the word of Sanscrit origin, 
Chipi, " a tongue." Cha- 
chipi, therefore, is literally 
" True tongue." 

Chai, s. pi. Children, fellows, 
Gypsies. Niiios, muchachos. 
Jitanos. Vid. Chabo. 

Chaja, s.f. Cabbage. Col. 

Chajamen, s.f. Prudence, 
bashfulness. Rec&to, timidez. 
Pers. Sharm. [Eng. Shame.] 

Chalabear, v. a. To move. Mo- 
ver. Sans. Kshwela. Rus. 
Kolebat. 

Chalar, v. n. To walk, to go. 
Andcir, ir. Sans. Kshwela. 

Chalendre, s.m. Tiger. Tigre. 
Sans. Sardula. Pers. Shir. 

Chalchiben, s.m. Steel for 
striking fire. Eslabon. 

Chalks, s.pl. Ear-rings. Zar- 
cillos. 

Challu, s.f Lie. Mentira. 

Chalorgar, s. m. Altar. Altar. 
Pers. Keblah gah. Sans. Chat- 
wara. 

Chamuliar, v. a. To speak. Hab- 
lar. Sayis. Sambhasha (dis- 
course.) 

Chan, 5. 7/i. Cloth. Pano. Sans. 
Achchhadana. 

Chancle, s.f Knee. Rodilla. 
Sans Janu. [Lat. Genu.] 

Chando, s. and adj. Wise, a 
sage. Sabio, doctor. [Gey. 
Kundig.] 

Chanelar, v. a. n. To know. Sa- 
ber. Pers. Shenat'tan. 

Chuneo, s. m. Ring. Anillo. 

Changanar, v. a. n. To awake. 
Despertiir. Sans. J.igri. llin. 
Jugana. 

Chanjrane, adj. Awake. Des- 
pierto. Sana, Jajrarin. 

Changero, adj. False. Falso 

Chanispar, r. o. n. Exhale, 
breathe, inspire. Espirar. 



Chanispero, s.m. Spirit. Espi- 
ritu. 

Chanorgar, v. a. To forget. Ol- 
vidiir. 

Chantar, v. a. To plant. Plan- 
tar. 

Chaomo, s. m. Winter. Invi- 
erno. Pers. Sarma. 

Chapardo, s.m. Tinder. Yesca. 

Chapesca, s.f Flight. Fuga. 

Chapescar,??. n. To flee. Huir. 

Chaplesca, s. f Serpent. Ser- 
piente. 

Char, s. m. Heaven. Cielo. Sans. 
Swar. Pers. Charkh. 

Char, ^. m. Egypt : according 
to the dialect of Estrema- 
dura. Egipto; segun el dia- 
lecto de los Jitanos. Estre- 
menos. 

Char, s.f. Grass. Yerba. Pers. 
Gey ah. 

Charabaro, adj. Sad. Triste. 

Charaburi, s.f. Sadness. Tris- 
te za. 

Chardi, s.f. A fair, market. 
Feria. Vid. Chati. 

Charnique, s.f Life. Vida. 
Hin. Jan. 

Charipe, s.f. Bed, bedstead. 
Cama. Hin. Charpoy. Mo- 
dern Greek, tcQeftftori. 

Chasar, v. n. To pass. Pasar. 

Chaseos, s. m. Exercise. Ejer- 
cicio. 

Chasilar, v. a. To sup. Cenar. 

Chati, s.f. A fair. Feria. Hin. 
Chhetr. 

Chavo, s. m. A plate. Plato. 

Chaute, n. p. The fortress of 
Ceuta. Ceuta. 

Che, s.f Scab. Tina. Sans. 
Kachchhu. Hin. Khaj. 

Chen, s.f Earth, land. Tierra. 
[Gr.yiff] Vid. Chim. 

Chepo, s.m. Breast, bosom. 
Seno, pecho. Pers. Jayb. 

Cherdillas,5.p/. The stars. Las 
estrellas. 

Cherdino, s. m. The morning- 
star. Lucero. 

Cherja, s.f. Bag, bundle. Hal- 
da. 

Chetalli, s.f. Olive. Oliva. 

Cheti, s.f Olive-oil. Aceyte. 

Chi, s. f and adv. Nothing. 
Nada. 

Chiabalo, s. m. Cigar. Cigarro. 

Chiaca, s.f Table. Mesa. 

Chibar, v. a. To cast, shoot. 
Echar. Sans. Kshipa. This 
verb is used in many senses. 

Chibarse a penar, To begin to 
speak. Comenzar a hablar. 

Chibar lacho, To make well, to 
cure. Curar, sanar. 

Chibar sermon, To preach. 
Predicar. 

Chibel. Vid. Chibes. 

Chibel,5.?ft. A river. Rio. Pers. 
Jui. 

Cliibelar, v. a. Vid. Chibar. 

Chtbes, *, 7ii. Day. Dia. Sans. 
Divasa. Hin. Dewus. 

('hibiben 

Chibos, 



5. Life. \"ida. 



Chicato, 5.7n. Uncle. Tio. Hin. 
Chucha. 

Chiche, s.f. Face. Cara. 

Chichi, s. Nothing. Nada. Que- 
ry, Any thing. Pers. Chizi. 

Chichoji, s. Cat. Giito. 

Chiguay, s. m. Louse. Piojo. 

Childar, v. a. To put, place. 
Poner, meter. 

Chi\do, par. pars. Put, placed 
Metido, puesto. 

Chilindrote, 5.7ra. Sparrow. Gor- 
rion. Hin. Chiriya. 

Chim, 5. to. Kingdom, coun- 
try. Reyno, tierra. Sans. 
Kshmd. 

Chimoni, s.f. Any thing. Cual- 

quier cosa. 

r*i • a — } s. Glory. Glo- 
Chimudani, f • o •* «„, 
r,. . , ' > na. Sans. bam- 

Cnimusolano, i ,,,,„,; 
' ) bhavana. 

Chimuyar, v. a. Vid. Chamu- 
liar. 

Chimutra, s.f. Moon. Luna. 
Arab. Kamr. Saw5. Kaumu- 
dipati. 

Chinaora, s.f Sickle. Hoz. 
Vid. Chinelar. 

Chindar, v. a. To hang up. 
Colgar. 

Chindar, v. a. To bear, pro- 
duce. Parir. Sans. Jani, 
(birth.) Hin. Junna. [Gr. 
ysvraw.] 

Chinday, 5./. Mother. Madre. 
Sans. Janitwa. 

Chindo, ^s.fy-adj. Blind, 

Chindoquendo, ) blind man. 
Ciego. Sans. Andha. Hin. 
Chundhla, (blear-eyed.) 

Chindoma, s. m. Butcher. Car- 
nicero. Saws. Sunavata. 

Chinel, ) 5. m. A person of offi- 

Chino, 5 c ' a l rank. Hombre 
de graduacion, oficial. De- 
rived from the Russian, Chin, 
"Rank." 

Chinelar, v. a. To cut, reap. 
Cortar, segar. 

Chingabar, 5. m. Pin. Alfiler. 

Chingrar, v.a. To fight. Pe- 
leAr, renir. 

Chingaripen, s.m. War, battle. 
Guerra,combate. Sans. San- 
gara. Pers. Jang. 

Chinobaro, 5. 7ft. High-consta- 
ble, governor. Alguacil may- 
or, gobernador. Vid. Chino 
and Baro. 

Chinoje, 5. 7ft. He-ass. Burro. 

Chinoro, adj. Small, little. Pe- 
querio. Sans. Kanika, Ka- 
nishta ; whence likewise the 
English cant word Kinchin. 

Chipalo, 5. 7M. Blacksmith. Her- 
rero. Sans. Kapila (dark, 
tawny.) 

Chipe, s.f. Truth (improper- 
ly.) Verdad. 

,„, - ) 5. f. Tongue. Lengua. 

Wf Sans. Jihwa. Hin. 

Uhip1 ' ) Jibh. Pers. Znb.in. 

Cbipen, s.f. Life. \*ida. Sans. 
Jivana. Per-s. Jan. Hin.Jee. 

Chique, s.f. Earth, ground 
Tierra, suelo. Sans, ldika. 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



129 



Ohirinda 
Chiringa 



ILdUU. 

' S Mi 



;,) 



Chobar, 
Chobelar 



€hique. 5./. Butter. Manteca. 

Hin. Ghee. 
Chirdabar, v. a. To cut. Cor- 

tar. 
Chirdo. adj. Short. Corto. 
Chiribito,s. m. A cricket. Gril- 

lo. Sans. Chirika. 
Chiriclo, s.m. A fowl, chicken. 
Polio. Properly, A bird. Ave, 
Hin. Chiriya. 
Chirijimar, v. a. n. To advance. 

Adelantar. Hin. Churhana. 
Chirijimen, -par. pas. Advanced, 
delantado 

An orange. 

aranja. In 

Moorish, China. 

Time. Tiem 

Chiro, I po. Sans. Cruras* 

Chiros, f ya (long time.) 

J Mod. Gr. y.aigog. 
Chirriria, s.f. Bit of thread, 
lint, Mota. Sans. Chora 

Chismar, v. a. To spit. Escu- 
pir. Sans. Smarasawa (sali- 
va.) 

& }™. Childar. 

Chitino, s. m. Passport. Pasa- 

porte. 
Cho, s.f. Barley. Cebada. 

Pers. Ju. 

" v.a. To wash. La- 
var. Pers. Shu- 
yidan. 
Chocoronar, v. a. To remedy. 

Remediar. 
Chocorono, s.m. A remedy. 

Remedio. 

^ s/.Petticoat.Saya, 
Choji, I enaguas. Sans. 

Chojinda, | Chalanaka, Sa.- 

J taka. 
Chon, s.f. Beard, chin. Barba. 

Mod. Gr. ysvtiov. 
Choneria, 5./. Barber's shop. 

Barberia. 
Chonero, s. m. Barber. Barbe- 

ro. Sans. Chandila. 
Chono,s.m. Month. Mes. Hin. 

Chand. 
Chopala, s.f. Hut, tent. Choza. 

Sans. Skula. Hin. Chuppur. 

Italian, C'apanna. 
Chopon,5. m. Quince. Mem- 

brillo. 
Chor, 5. 771. Thief. Ladron. 

Sans. Chaura. Hin. Chor. 
Chorl,s. /. Knife. Cuchillo, 

navaja. Sans, Chhuro. Hin. 

Chooree. Mod. Gr. ua/aiQi. 
Chori,s.f. Mule. Mula. Hin. 

Khuchur. 
Choro, s. and adj. Thief, thiev- 
ish, evil. Ladron, malo. 
Chororo, adj. Poor, Pobre. 

Sans. Kshudra. Hin. Shor. . 
Chorripen, s.f Evil, wicked- 
ness. Maldad. 
Chotiar, v.a. To spit. Eseupir. 

Sans. Nishtuta (spitting.) 
Chova,s./. Hand. Mano. ~Sans. 

Charpata (the palm.) [Hcb. 

Caph.] 
Chuajani, s.f. Witch, sorce- 



ress. Bruja, hechicera pro- 

fetisa. Sans. Sanvanana. J Jin. 

Syana. Rus. Charobnitza. 
Chube, s. m. Louse, Piogo. 

Sans. Kitibha. Hin. Jun. 
Chubalo, s. m. Cigar. Cigar- 

ro. 
Chucha,5/. Breast, pap. Pecho. 

Sans. Kucha. 
Chuchipon, s.m. Suet, grease. 

Sebo. 
Chuchiri, s.f. Fat. Gordura. 
Chuchuquelar, s.f. Oil-cruse. 

Alcuza. 
Chuli, ~)s.m. A dollar. Un 
Chulo, ) duro. un peso fuerte. 
Chulo, s. m. A knife. Un cu- 
chillo. Hin.C luil hoc. 
Chullo, adj. Fat. Gordo. Sans. 

Sthula. Hin, Chuodhur. 
Chumasconas, s.f. Harlot. Ra- 

inera. Sans. Smara (love.) 
Chumajari, s.m. Shoemaker. 

Zapatero. Sans. Charmma- 

kara. 
Chumajayal, s.f. Grinders. 

Muelas. 
Chumia, s.f. Time, turn. Vez. 
Chundear, v. imp. To happen. 

Suceder. Hin. Ho-chooka. 
Chungalipen, s.f. What is 

ugly, heavy. Cosa fea, pe- 

sada. Hin. Choonna. 

Chungalo, H£*£SJ; 
Chun g o, <j p e ,.i. Ta P ng . 
Chupardelar, v. n. To stumble. 

Tropezar. 
Chupendi, s.f A kiss. Beso. 

Sans. Chumbana (kissing.) 

Hin. Chooma. 
Chuque, )s. m. Dog. Perro. 
Chuquel, ) Sans. Kukura 

Basque, Chacurra. Pers. 

Sag. 
Churdani, s.f. Fancy, presump- 
tion. Fantasia. 
Churdina, s.f. Dagger-blow. 

Puiialada. 
Churrilli, s.f. Nit. Liendre. 
Chusno, s. m. Hillock. Cer- 

10. 
Chuti,s./. Milk. Leche. Sans. 

Dugdha, Duh. Hin. Dudh. 
Chuvias, s. pi. Fisty-cuffs. Pu- 

fiadas. 



Dabastro. Vid. Drabaro. 

Dai, > s f. Mother, {properly, 

Day, 5 "Nurse"; Madre. 
Pers. Dayah. Mod. Gr. Qua. 

Dajiralo,s.»i. Trembling. Tem- 
blor. 

Dajirar, v.n. To tremble. Tem- 
blar. 

Dal, ^s. m. Fear. Temor. Mod. 

Dan, > Greek, duXta. Sans. 

Dar, ) Dara. 

Danbilar, v. a. To chew. Mas- 
car. 

Dandesquero, s. m. Lamp, can- 
dle. Candil. 

Dani, s. v/. Teeth. Dientes. 
Sans, Danta. 

Darabar, v.a. To praise, (pro- 
M2 



perly, " to fear,") Alabar. 

temer. 
Daraiiar, v. n. To fear. Temer 
Darano, v.a. Fearful, Teine- 

roso. 
Dari, .<?./. Thread, line. Hilera 

Vid. Dori. 
Debel, s.7u. God. Dios. Sans. 

Div (heaven,) Deva (deity.) 
Debla, s.f. The Virgim (God- 
dess.) La Virjen. Diosa. 
Debleschinday, Tiie Mother of 

God. Madro de Dios. Vid. 

Debel, and Chinday. 
Debus, adv. Over and above. 

Dernas. 
Delale, par. Presented. Pre- 

sentado. 
Delune, s.f Sickle. Hoz. 
Deplemande,a^?j. For nothing. 

Debalde. 
Deque, s.m. Ten. Diez. Mod. 

Gr. Sexa. Pers. Dah. 
Demo, adj. New. Nuevo. Sans. 

Taruna. 
Desparugar, v.a. To return a 

thing bartered. Destrocar. 
Desquero, pron. pers. injlec. Of 

him, his. Del,su. Hin. Iska. 
I Desquinar, v.n. To rest. Des- 

cansar. 
Destechescar, v. a. To undo. 

Deshacer. 
Diar, v.a. To see. Ver, mirar. 

Pers. Didan. 
Dicani,5./. Window. Ventana. 
Dicar, v. a. To see. Ver. Sans. 

Iksha. 
Dichabar,?;. a. To send. Man- 

dar. Vid. Bichabar. 
Diclo, s. m. Handkerchief, 

clout. Panuelo, panal. 
Dilia,^./. Lettuce. Lechuga. 
Dinaste, s. m. Glass. Vidrio. 
Dinelo, s.fy adj. Fool. Tonto. 

Pers. Diwanah. 
Dini, s.f. Pound. Libra. 
i-.~ )».a. To give. Dar. 

Dinelar, ^ Dena 

Dinator, 5. m. Doctor. Doctor. 

Dinople, s. m. Harm, damage, 
Dano. 

Discoli, s. m. Disciple. Disci- 
pulo. 

Disde, adv. Until. Hasta. 

Docurdanza, s.f. Mistress. 
Maestra. 

Docurdo, s. m. Master. Maestro. 
Sans. Thakkura. Hin. Tha- 
kur. 

Doj, \s.f Fault. Culpa. Sa?is. 

Doji, 5 Dosha. Hin. Dokh. 

Dori, s.f. Rope. Soga. Pers. 
Dari. 

Doscusaiia, s.f. A crown. Co- 
rona. 

Dosta, adv. Enough. Basta. 
From the Russian verb, Dos 
tat, "to suffice." Sans. 
Tashu. 

Drabaro, s.m. Rosary. Rosii- 
rio. — Drabarar or drabaro: 
" To tell one's beads," Rezjr 
el rosilrio. This word is com* 
pounded of"da.l'' aud " baro,' 



130 



THE ZINCALI. 



literally, " a thing of great 
fear" or " sanctity." 

Drabuco, adj. Flat. Chato. 

Dracay, sf.pl. Grapes. Uvas. 
Sans. Draksha. 

Drami, s.f. Week. Semana. 

Drante, s. Ink. Tinta, 

Drao, s. m. Poison. Veneno. 
The Gitanos apply this word 
to a certain noxious prepara- 
tion, which they are in the 
habit of casting in the man- 
gers of cattle, to cause sick- 
ness and death. Pers. Zahr. 
(poison.) Vid. Grao. 

Draute. Vid. Drante. 

Drescos. s.pl. Corns. Callos. 

Droba, s.f. Leather-bag for 
wine. Bota. 

Droji, s.f Rind, peel. Cascara. 

Dromalis, s.pl. Carriers, mu- 
leteers, men of the road. Ar- 
rieros, viajeros. 

Dron,")s. >m. Road. Camino. 

Drun, 5 Pers. Darund. Mod. 
Gr. dQo/iiog. Hin. Duhur. 

Dron-grugi, ) s. Royal road, 

Drunji, ) likewise a Foot- 

path. Camino real, vereda. 

Drupos, s. m. Body. Cuerpo. 

Dua, \s.f. Pain, grief. Pena. 

Duga, 5 Sans. Tuda (to pain.) 

Dubela, s.f. Cup. Tasa. Pers. 
Peyaleh. 

Ducano, adj. Compassionate. 
Compasivo. 

Dm, adj. Two. Dos. Pers. Du. 

Dujo, adj. Wroth in spirit, 
angry. Enojado. Vid. Du- 
quende. 

Dumen, s. m. Loin. Lorao. 

Dundilo, s. m. Lamp. Velon. 

Dundun, s.f. Light. Luz. 

Duneo, s. m. Sunday. Domin- 
go. 

Duqueles,s.;>Z. Dobloons. Dob- 
lones. 

Duquende,5. m. A spirit, ghost. 
Duende. From the Russian, 
Dook, "a spirit;" which is 
itself derived from the Sans. 
Dhuka. 

Duquendio, s. m. Master, a 
principal person amongst the 
Gitanos. Maestro, hombre 
principal entre los Jitanos. 

Duquipen, s. m. Grief. Dolor. 

Dnr. adv. Far. Lejos. Sans. 
Dura. Pers. Dur. 

Durlin, s.7n. Police archer. Cor- 
chete. 

Durotunes, s.pl. Shepherds, 
herdsmen. Pastorcs. Hin. 
Dnoongur. 

Dusuldo, s.m. Drunkard. Bor- 
racho. 

Dut, s.f. Light. Luz. Sans. 
Dyuti. Hin. Yot. Moorish 
Arabic, Dow. 

E. 

E, gen. sin. of the article O. 

Jenetivo singular del arti- 

cuto O. 
JEfta. adj. Seven. Siete. Pas. 

Haft. Gr. tmu. 



\ Egresi ton, adj. Last. Ultimo. 

Embeo, s. m. Book. Libro. 

Hin. Bed. 
Emposuno, adv. Attentively. 

Atentamente. 
Enbrota, s.f Trunk, proboscis. 

Trompa. 
Encalomar, v. a. To mount, 

ascend. Subir. Sans. Unnaya. 

(raising.) 
Ende, adv. prep. Since, after, 

from Desde. 
Engrejeri,s. m. Asparagus. Es- 

parrago. Sans. Indivara. 
Enjallar, v. n. To remember. 

Acordar. 
Enjalle, sf. Memory. Memoria. 
Ennagrar, v. a. To repair. En- 

mendar. 
Enorme, 5. m. Enemy. Ene- 

migo. 
Enpirre, s.pl. Footmen, infan- 
try, labourers. Peones. 
Enre, ) adv. Within. Dentro. 
Enrun, ) Gr.tvdov.(Lat Antra..) 
Enrecar, Within us. En noso- 

tros ; e. g. Saboca enrecar 

Maria ereira! " Dwell within 

us, Blessed Mary!" 
Enrrar, v. n. To enter. Entrar. 
Ensimacha, s.f. Ensign. En- 

sena. 
Enia, adj. Nine. Nueve. Mod. 

Gr. svvta. 
Epicon^ s.f. Corner. Esquina. 
Erajay,. s. m. Friar. Frayle. 

Vid. A raj ay. 
Erajami,/. s. Dress of a friar. 

Habito de fraile. 
Er ajar da, s.f. Bramble, thistle. 

Zarza, cardo. Pers. Khar. 

Hin. Jardar. 
Erandia, s.f Nun. Monja. 
Erani, s.f Lady. Seiriora. 
Erano, s.m. Lord, master. Se- 

rior. Sans. Bharanda. Rus. 

Bareen. 
Eray, s.m. Gentleman, knight. 

Caballero. Hin. Rae. 
Erdicha.s./. Poverty. Pobreza. 

Vid.Zichz. 
Eres, s.pl. Men not of the 

Gypsy caste : " Hombres que 

no son Jitanos." 
Ererio, adj. Blessed. Bendito. 
Erescare, adj. Blue. Azul. 
Eresia, s.f. Vine, vineyard. 

Vid, vina. Pers. Raz. Sans. 

Trirahnara (grape.) 
Eriche, s.jh. Pig, swine. Mar- 

ra.no. 
Eriiries, s.pl. Hojrs. Marranos. 
Erisimen, s.f Blessing. Ben- 

dicion. 
Erradcras, s.pl. Lettuces. Le- 

chugas. 
Eru, 7 s.m. Olive tree. Oli- 
Eni(]uel, ) vo. Nod.Gr. tXaia. 
Erucar, 5. m. Olive-ground. 

Olivar. 
Eso&nii, s.f. Staircase, ladder. 

Escala. 
Escobiche,s. m. Beetle. Esca- 

rabnjo 
Eaden, .<?. Ten. Diez, properly 

Deque, q.v. 



Esden y yesque, Eleven. Once. 
Esden y duis, Twelve. Doce. 
Esden y trin, Thirteen. Trece. 
Esden y ostar, Fourteen. Ca- 

torce. 
Esden y panche, Fifteen. 

Quince. 
Esden y jobe, Sixteen. Diez y 

seis. 
Esden y ester, Seventeen. Diez 

y siete. 
Esden y ostor, Eighteen. Diez 

y ocho. 
Esden y esne, Nineteen. Diez 

y nueve. 
Esne, adj. Nine. Nueve. Via 

Enia. 
Esnerdi, s. Ninety. Noventa. 
Esorgie, adj. Extreme. Extre- 
me 
Espajuo, s. m. Fright, wonder. 

Espanto. 
Espandador, s. m. Gorge of a 

hill. Barranco. 
Esparrabar. Vid. Asparabar. 
Esparrusar, v. a. To hide. Es- 

conder. Sans. Apavarana 

(concealment.) 
Espibias, 5. pi. Chestnuts. Cas- 

tanas. 
Espirabia, s.f. Leech. Sangui- 

juela. Sans. Asrapa. 
Esporboria, s.f. Onion. Cebolla. 
Esprejaiio, s. m. Mulatto. Mu- 

lato. 
Espurria, s.f Gut. Tripa. 
Espusifia, s.f. Spur. Espuela. 
Estache, s.m. Hat. Sombrero 

From the Arab. Taj (a crown.) 
Estar, adj. Four. Cuatro. 
Estarica,5./. Ark, chest. Area 

Vid. Jestari. 
Estardi, adj. Forty. Cuarenta. 
Estardo, s. & adj. Prisoner, 

captive. Preso. Arab, and 

Heb. Asfr. 
Estaripel, s.f. Prison. Carcel. 

Arab. Asiri. 
Esterdi,arfj. Seventy. Setenta. 
Estomar, v. a. To pardon. Per- 

donar. 
Estongri, s.f. A weight, dollar. 

Peso. 
Estonquelar, v. a. To weigh. 

Pesar, 
Estonquele, s.m. A weight. 

Peso. 
Estonqueleta, s.f. Small silver 

coin. Peseta. 
Estoriar. r. r. To be tired. Ren- 

dir. 
Estoriel, adj. Fatigued, worn 

up. Rendido. Sans. Avasada 

(weariness.) 
Estormen,5./. Pardon. Remis- 
sion. Remision. 
Estuche, s.m. Sword. Espada. 

Sans. Asidhenu (knife,) Asi. 



Fachoyi. s.f. Grub, insect. 

Vicho, vichuelo. 
Fac6rro.5.»». Halt. Alto. Que- 

relar facorro, To halt. Hacer 

alto. 
Farafais, s.pl. Buttons. Botones. 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



131 



Farsilaja, s.f. Fault. Falta. 
Feda, s.f. Way, path. Camino. 
Felicha, 5./. Tower (prison.) 

Torre, Mod. Gr. (pukax.ij. 
Fermentar, s.f. Penitence. Pe- 

nitencia. 
Fendo, fendi, adj. Good. Bue- 

no, buena. 
Fermicha, s.f. Tower. Torre. 
Feter, adv. Better. Mejor. Pers. 

Bahtar. 
Fiafo, s.m. Steel for striking 

fire. Eslabon. 
Fili, s.f. Face. Cara. 
Fili, s.f. Jacket. Chaqueta. 
Filimicha, s.f. Gallows. Horca. 

Rus. Bicelitza. 
Fingule, s. to. Kind of Gnat. 

Cagarropa. 
Firb, s.pl. Sparrows. Gorriones. 
Flacha,s./. Ashes. Ceniza. Hin. 

Rakh. 
lamar, s. m. Jest. Chanza 
-'loja, s.f. Account. Cuenta. 
Floripi, s.f. Mass. Misa. 
Fondela, s.f. Tavern. Taver- 

na. 
Foro, ) s. to. City. Ciudad. 
Foros, 5 Sans. Puri. Hin.Pnr. 
Fracasia, s.f. Low. La puerca. 
Fracaso, s.m. Hog. El puerco. 
Frasardo,s.m. Tiled Roof. Te- 

jado. 
Fresiego, s.m. Gulf. Golfo. 

From the Sans. Asthaga 

(deep.) 
Fresiego e Bombardo, Gulf of 

Lyons, Golfo de Leon. 

Aunson guilles 

Y te chobes 

En e fresiego 

E Bombardo— 

N&sti nicabas 

E quichardila 

Sos sar menda 

Te petro. 
"Although thou go and wash 
thee in the Gulf of Lyons, thou 
wilt not get rid of the stain which 
thou didst obtain through me 
(which with me fell to thee.") 

Frima, ado. Little. Poco. — 
" Frima, frima,'' " By de- 
grees, "Poco a poco." 

Fronsaperar,u. a. n. To wait, to 
hope. Esperar. 

Frujeria, s.f. Fruit. Fruta. 

Fufu, s. m. A well. Pozo. 

Ful, s. to. Dung. Estiercol. 
Sans. Mala. Hin. Mul. 

Fulalo, s. m. A dirty fellow. 
Hombre dispreciable. 

Fulaiii, s.f. Dirtiness. Sucie- 
dad. 

Furi,*./. Jacket. Chaqueta. 

Furi,s./. Pudendum muliebre. 
Hin. Furj. 

Furnia, s.f. Cave. Cucva. 

Furunc, s.f. Favour, grace. Fa- 
vor, gracia. 

G. 

Gabicote. s. m. Book. Libro. 

Jirab. KeUib. 
Gabine, s.m. Frenchman, 

French. Frances. 
Gabuno, s. m. Mouse. Raton. 
21 



Gachapla, s.f. Couplet, catch 

Copla. 
Gachaten, s. Cup, brasier. 

Copa. 
Gachinbarta, s.f. Goodness, 
righteousness. Rectitudjus- 
ticia. 

Gacho, s.m. A gentleman. 
Caballero. — Properly, Any 
kind of person who is not a 
Gypsy: " Cualquier hombre 
quo no sea Jitano." 

Gae, s. m. Wine-press. Lagar. 

Gajere, 1 adv. Always. Si- 

Gayeres, ) empre. 

Galisarda, s.f. Hunger. Ham- 
bre. Rus. Golod 

Gancibe, s.f. Avarice. Avari- 
cia. 

Gandi, s.f. Smell. Olor. Sans. 
Gandha. Hin. Gund. 

Gandias, s.fd. Dross, siftings. 
Granzas. 

Ganisardar, v. a. To gain. Ga- 
ndr. 

Gao, s. w. Town, village. Pue- 
blo. Sans. Karvvada. Pers. 
Cui. In the Thieves' lan- 
guage, this word is applied 
to Madrid. 

Garabelar, v. To be on one's 
guard, to guard. Guardar. 

Garapatia, s.f. Thanks. Gra- 
cias. Arab. 'Arefat. 

Garibardo, adj. Wounded, full 
of sores. Llagado. 

Garipe, s. Scab. Postilla. 

Garlochin, s.m. Heart. Cora- 
zon. Vid. Carlochin. 

Gate, s. to. Shirt. Camisa. Pro- 
perly, A cloth round the 
middle. Sans. Kadirra. 

Gavin, s.J. France. Francia. 

Gel, s. m. Ass. Burro. 

Geliche, s. to. Cord. Cordel. 

Geremancha, s.f. Shop. Tien- 
da. 

Gerjeres. Vid Guerere. 

Gerinel, «./>. Michael. Miguel. 

Gi, s. to. Wheat. Trigo. 

Gilo, s. Kind of rope. Soga. 

Gimona,s./". Hunting-cap. Mon- 
te r a. 

Ginar, v. a. To count. Contar. 
Sans. Gana. Hin. Ginna. 

Ginglar, v. n. To smell. Oler. 

Girelar, v. n. To laugh. Reir. 
Hin. Khilkhilana. 

Give, s.f. Snow. Nieve. 

Giyabar, v. a. To relate. Con- 
tar. 

Glandaseo, s. and adj. A gal- 
lant. Gallant. Galante. 

Glandi.s./. A knife. Cuchil- 
lo. 

Gloriban, s. m. Idler. Holga- 
zan. 

Gola, s.f. Order. Orden. 

Golberi, s.f 4 Crop, harvest. 
Cosecha. 

Gole, s.f. Shout, cry. Voz, 
grito. Hin. Ghooloo. Rus. 
Golos. 

Golipcn, s.f. Health. Salud. 

Golisarelar, v. 71. To smell, i 
Oler 



Golli,5./. Black-pudding. Mor- 

ci 11a. Hin. Gulgul. 
Gollori, 5. to. Male animal. 

Macho. 
Goneles,s.7ra. Garments, linen. 

Vestidos, ropa. Sans. Goni. 

Rus. Gune. — These words in 

the Sanscrit and Russian 

tongues are solely applied to 

the habiliments of a beggar. 
Gono, s. m. A sack. Saco, cos- 
tal. Hin. Gon. 
Gorberi, s. m. Farmer. Cose- 

chero. 
Gorbi, s. m. Ox. Buey. Sans. 

Gavaraja (bull.) 
Gorbio, s. m. A swelling. Bollo. 
Gorobar, v. n. To howl, Aullar. 

Vid. Cobadrar. 
Gorotune, s.m. Native of Es- 

tremadura. Estremeiio. 
Goruy. s. m. Ox. Buey. Vid. 

Gorbi. 
Gozoni, 5./. Young mare. Po- 

tranca. 
Gra,5. m. Horse. Caballo. Sans. 

Kharu. Hin. Ghora. 
Grajuno, adj. Dirty. Sucio. 
Granajina, s.f. Species of 

plant. Berengena. 
Granar, v.n. To bray. Rebuz- 

nar. 
Grani, s.f. Mare. Yegua. 
Grao, s. to. Poison. Veneno. 

Sans. Gara. 
Gras, > s. m. Horse. Caballo. 
Graste, > Vid. Gra. 
Grateriza, s.f. Stable. Cuadra. 
Grejelo, adj. Certain. Cierto. 
Grejeri, s. Asparagus. Espar- 

rago. 
Gres, s. Hundred. Ciento. 
Gres, prep.adv. Before. Antes. 
Gresdene, s. m. Stove. Anafe. 
Gresone, p.n. Jesus Christ. 

Jesu Christo. 
Grestis, s.pl. Breeches. Cal- 

zones. 
Grey, s. m. Century. Siglo. 
Griba, s.f. Rigour. Rigor. 
Gribule, adj. Rigorous. Rigo- 

roso. 
Grimpar, v.n. To toast, pledge. 

Brindar. 
Gris, s.m. Cold. Frio. 
Grobelar, v. a. To repair, go- 
vern. Componer, gobernar. 
Grodogopo, adj. Wounded. 

Estropeiido. 
Gronichen,A/. Manured earth. 

Tierra estercolada. 
Groiii, s.f. Dung-heap. Ester- 

col6ro. 
Grose, 5. to. Forest, mountain. 

Monte. Rus. Gora. 
Grucha, s.f. Cloth. Tola. 
Guachedre, s. Manger. Pese- 

bre. 
Gnajalote, s. m. Turkey, pea- 
cock. Pavo. Sans. Garabrata, 

Galavrata. 
Gucanar, v. a. To open. Abrir 

Hin. Kuhna. 
Guchiba, s.f. Stable. Cuadra 
Guel, 5. in. Donkey, ass. Bor 



132 



THE ZINCALI. 



Guel, s.f. Itch. Sarna. 
Guergere,s. m. Tuesday. Mar- 

tes. 
Gui, s.f. Wheat. Trigo. 
Guillabar,r>. a. To sing. Cantar. 

Sans. Kheli (a song.) Hin. 

Guvvuya. 
Guillar, v. n. To go, to walk. 

Ir, pasear. Rvs. Gulliat. 
Guillopio,r/</j. Maimed. Manco. 
Gula, s.f. Wave. Onda. 
Gule,s.m. Must, sirup. Arrope. 
Gulupe, s. m. Cotton. Algo- 

don. Sans. Sthulapatta. 
Gurabano, s. m. Pastry cook. 

Bollero. 
Guribano,5.?n. Silence. Silen- 

cio. 
Guruju, s.m. Dissolute fellow. 

Tunante. 
Gusto, 5. in. Goose. Ganso. 

H.| 

Haccuno, s. m. Summer. Ve- 

rano. 
Hambo, s.m. One who is not a 

Gypsy. El que no es Jita- 

no. 
Harero, s. m. Plum-tree. Ci- 

ruelo. 
Helo,s.m. Hog. Marrano. Sans. 

Kola. Moor. Arab. Haiti f. 
Henira, s.f. Misfortune. Des- 

gracia. 
Heta, adj. Named. Nombrado. 

— This word appears to be 

derived from the same root 

as the English " hight," and 

the " hedte" of the Danes 

and Scandinavians. 
Horipaquia, s.f. Ant, emmet. 

Hormiga. 

I 

Ibrain,s.ra. February. Febr6ro. 

Iclene, adj. Celebrated. Cele- 
bre. Rus. Slavnoy. [Lat. In- 
clytus.] 

Ie, properly the genitive singu- 
lar of the article O; also the 
accusative; it frequently serves 
for the nominative; e.g. Ie 
pray the mountain ; ie ran 
the rod ; Ie trujacai the 
grapes. — Propriamente el je- 
nitivo singular del articulo 
O; tambien el acusativo . 
frecu6ntemente sirve por el 
nominativo. 

lege, s.f. Mass. Misa. 

leque, adj. One. Uno. Sans. 
Eka. [Pers. Yak.] 

leru, s. m. Wolf. Lobo. 

les, gen. pi. of the article O. Jen. 
pi. del articulo O. 

Ies, adj. One. Uno. 

Iesano, s. m. Bacon. Tocino. 

Iescotria, adv. Immediately. 
Luego. Vid. Escotria. 

Iesdra, s.f. The left-hand. 
Mano izquierda. 

lesque. Vid. Ieque. 

iesque avel, One to another. 
Uno a otro. 

Inclobo, s. m. Hermitage. Er- 
raito. 



Inericar, v. a. To protect, shel- 
ter. Amparar. 

Inerin, s. m. January. Enero. 

Inerique, 5. m. Protection, shel- 
ter. Ampa.ro. 

Ingodine,a6(;. Gluttonous. Go- 
loso. 

Ingrodile. Impossible, lmposi- 
ble. 

Inica, adj. Doting. Chocho. 

lnolobi, s. m. Hermit. Ermi- 
tano. Rus. Inokk (monk.) 

Irismen, s.m. Information. Aviso. 

Isic6n,5. m. Corner. Esquina. 

Isnabar, v. a. To have. Haber. 
Isna, " There is." Hay. 

Iu, s. m. Paper. Papel. Hin. 
Ruq (parchment.) 

Iusmito, s. vi. Smith. Herrador. 

J. 

Jaba, s.f. Harlot. Ramera. 

Sans. Kavera. Moorish, Kah- 

bah. 
Jabillar, v. a. To understand. 

Entender. 
Jabuni, s.f. Rat. Rata. 
Jacbapen, s. Food. Comida. 

Sans. Kasipu. Hin. Khaja. 
Jacharar, v. a. To burn. Que- 

mar. Sans. Chura. 
Jachari, *./. Conflagration, 

blaze. Incendio. 
Jal, s. m. Rope tied round the 

neck. Dogiil. 
Jalar, v. a. To eat. Comer. 

Sans. Gala 
Jalares, s. pi. Breeches. Cal- 

zones. 
Jamar, v. a. To eat. Comer. 

Sans. Chamya (food.) Hin. 

Khana. 
Jamachuri, ) s.f. Strawberry- 
Jamaduri, ) tree « Madrono. 
Jamaco, s. m. Apricot. Albari- 

coque. 
Janbri, s.m. Toad. Sapo. 
Jandeblaban,*. m. Proverb. Re- 

fran. 
Jandojo, s. m. Sin. Pecado. 
Jandorro, s.m. Money. Dinero. 
Janreles, 5. pi. The genitals. 

Los jenitales. 

Janro°,'}* m - S ^e. Sable. 
\ s.f Virgin. Virjen. Sans. 

Jaiia, ! Kani. [Suns. Jani. 

Jani, [ Rus. Jena. Gr. ywtj 
J woman.] 

Japufie, $. m. Soap. Jabon. 

Jar, s. m. Heat. Calor. Sans. 
Khara. [Arab. Kharr. Old 
Ger. Har] 

Jara, s.f. Ounce of gold. Onza 
de oro. 

Jaracaiiales, s. pi. Guards, offi- 
cers of the revenue. Guardas, 
carabineros. 

Jarambolis, 5. pi. Rags.Trapos. 

Janimi, s.f. Jacket. Chaquota. 

Jarando, s. m. Pool, puddle. 
Charco. 

Jardani, pr. v. John. Juan. 

Jarima, s.f. Crumb, micraja. 

Jarrumbo, .s\ rn. Sieve. Harnero. 

Jarsia, s.f. Justice. Justicia 



Jayere, s.m. Money. Dinero. 
Jayro, adj. Dry. Seco. 
Jebe, )5. Hole. Agujero. Sans. 
Jebi, 5 Gavaksha. Hin. Beh. 
Jebilen, s.m. Hole, well. Pozo. 
Jele, s.f. Pope. Soga. 
Jeli, s.f. Love Amor. 
Jenebel, s. m. Cloak. Capote. 
Jeni, s.f. She-ass. Burra. 
Jeralli,s./. Hunting-cap. Mon- 

tera. 
Jerami, s.f. Bracelet. Manilla. 
Jerardo, 5. m. Hell. Infierno. 
Jerias, s. pi. Legs. Piernas. 
Jeriiii, s.f. She-ass. Burra. 
Jero, s. m. Head. Cabeza. Sans. 

Sira. 
Jeroro,5. m. He-ass. Burro. 
Jeroscosa, 5. /. Crown of the 

head. Mollera. 
Jerquem,sf. Fountain. Fucnte. 
Jerrumbro, s. m. Muleteer. Ar- 

riero. 
Jesame, s.f. Waistcoat. Chupa 
Jestari, s.f Chest. Area. Gr. 

y.iort]. 
Jetayo, 5. m. Lackey, footman. 

Lacayo. 
Jetro, adj. Another. Otro. 
Jibicha, s.f Soup. Sopa. 
Jichanca, s.f. Gypsy- woman 

J i tan a. 
Jichanco, s. m. Gypsy-man. Ji- 

tano. 
Jil, s.m. Cold. Frio. Sans. Si- 

tala. [Lat. Gelid us, adj.] 
Jil, s. m. Wheat. Trigo. 
Jimilo, s.m. Sigh. Suspiro. 

[Lat. Gemitus.] 
Jinar, v. a. To count, reckon. 

Contar. Vid. Ginar. 
Jinco, adj. Deep. Hondo. 
Jindo, adj. Dirty. Sucio. Sans. 

Gundaka (dirt.) 
Jinar, v. n. To exonerate the 

belly. Descargar el vientr»\ 

Sans. Havna. Mod. Gr. pw 
Jir, 5. m. Cold. Frio. Vid. Jil. 
Jircar, v.n. To shiver. Tiri- 

tar. 
Jire, adj. pron. Your, yours. 

Vuestro. 
Jiribar, v. a. To cook victuals, 

to curry. Guisar. Vid. Que- 

rabar. 
Jirirde, adj. Thin. Delgado. 
Jitarrorro, 5. m. Rag. Trapo. 
Job, adj. Six. Seis. 
Joberdi, a\ Sixty. Sesenta, 
Jojabar, v. a. To deceive. En- 

gafiar. Sans. Kuhaka. (de- 
ception ;) whence also the 

English Hoax, Hocus. 
Jojana, s.f. Deceit, lie. Enga- 

iio, Mentira. Sans. Kuhana. 

Hin. Jhooth. 
Jojenan, > s. m. Captain. Ca- 
Jojerian, ) pitan. 
Jojoy, 5. m. Hare, rabbit. Lie- 

bre, conejo. 
Jolili, s.f. Earth, country. Ti- 

erra, pais. Sans. Kula. 
Jollin, s. to. Anger, rage. Co- 

raje. Hin. Julun. 
Jongabar, v. a. To tie, bind. 

Atar. Htm. Jukurnar. 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



133 



Jorgarse, v. r. To divert one- 
self. Divertirse. 

Jorosnosco, adj. Hoary, gray. 
Canudo. 

Jorpoy , s. m. Wool. Lana. Arab. 
Tsuf. 

Jostia, s.f. Disputa. 

Jotisarar, v. a. To approach. 
Acercar. 

Jubeni, s.f Sale. Venta. 

Jubichen, s. m. Gaspacho. 

Jucal, adj. Lovely, generous. 
Hermoso, generoso. Sans. 
Prakula. Sukala. Hin. Shu- 
keela. 

Jucali, fern, of the preceding. 
Eermosa, &c. 

Juco, adj. Lean. Delgado./em. 
Juqui. 

Juica, s.f. Cradle. Cuna. 

Julabar,z7. a. To sweep. Barrer. 
Sans. Khalapu. (sweeper.) 

Julabay,s./. A broom. Escoba. 

Julaiii, s.f. Mistress. Ama. 

Julay, s.m. Master. Arao. Sans. 
Kulika (head of a family.) 

Julistraba, s.f. Serpent. Cule- 
bra. Sans. Kalasarpa (black 
snake.) 

Jumeri,s./. Bread. Pan. Sans. 
Sumana (wheat.) Pers. Gon- 
dam. [Arab. Khamir, leaven.] 

Junar, v. a. To hear, listen. 
Oir, escuchar. Pers. 

J undro, s. m. Tube, pipe. Canon. 

Jundro de la pusca, Barrel of a 
gun. Carion de la escopeta. 

Jundunar, s. m. Soldier. Sol- 
dado. Sans. Kandira (an 
archer,) from Kanda (an 
arrow.) 

Junios, s. m. A lamb. Cordero. 
Mod. Gr. anvi. 

Juntuno, s.m. Listener, scoun- 
drel. Escuchador, bribon. 
Vid. Junar. 

Jurdi, 5./. Gunpowder. P61- 
vora. Sans. Kshoda. 

Jurepe, s. m. Prison, tribula- 
tion. Carcel, tribulacion. 

Juri, s.f. File. Lima. 

Juribaiii, s.f. A cow. Vaca. 

Jurnio, s. m. A rope. Soga. Hin. 
Joorna (to tie.) " Chibar un 
jurnio en el aver pinre." — 
When an animal is lame in 
one foot, the Gypsies are in 
the habit of driving a nail 
into the other, by which they 
frequently deceive the chap- 
man : for when a horse is 
lame in both feet, it is diffi- 
cult to perceive that he is 
lame at all, the paces being 
equal. This trick is expressed 
by the above phrase ; which 
means, literally, " To cast a 
rope into the other foot." 

Jurtibar, 5.?7i. September. Sep- 
tiembre. 

Juru, 5. m. A bull. Toro. 

Jurune, adj. Dark, obscure. 
Oscuro. 

Justi, 5 /. Girdle. Faja. 

Justia, s. f. Pinchbeck. Tum- 
baga. 

18 



Juter 
Juti 



M 



s. Vinegar. Vimiorrc. 
Mod. Gr. |o*i. [Lat. 
Acetum.] 
Jutia, s.f. Needle. Aguja. 
Suchi. Hin. Suja. 

L. 

Labane,5. Purple, a red cloak. 

Purpura, capa encarnada. 
Labelar, v. a. To sing, to speak. 

Cantar, hablar. Sans. Lapa. 

Mod. Gr. Xayu). Ger. Lallen. 
Lacha, s.f. Shame, modesty. 

Verguenza. Sans. Lagga. 
Lachinguel, adj. Long. Largo. 
Lachipe, s.f Silk, Seda. 
Lachipen, s.f Goodness. Bon- 

diid. 
Lacho,fem. Lachi, adj. Good. 

Bueno. Hin. Achchha. Sans. 

Ruchira (beautiful.) 
Lacro, s. m. Servant. Criado. 

Sans. Loka (a man.) Hin. 

Larka (lad, boy.) 
Lalo, adj. Red, purple. Rojo, 

purpureo. Sans. Lohita. Pers. 

Lai. 
Lalore, s. m. A Portuguese. 

Portugues. 
Laloro, Portugal " The red 

land." Tierra bermeja, i. e. 

Portugal. 
Lanbar, s. m. Law-suit. Pleyto. 
Lanbio, ) s. Farming-man, la- 
Lanbro, ) bourer. Aperador. 
Lanchicol, s.m. Charcoal-dust. 

Cisco. 
Landari, s.f. Ribbon Cinta. 
Lanelar, v. a. To bring. Traer. 

Hin. Lana. 
Langar, s. m. Coal, Carbon. 
Lango, adj. Lame Cojo. Sans. 

Langa. Pers. Lang. 
Languear, v.n. To limp. Co- 

jear. [Pers. Langidan.] 
Languno, s. m. Thigh. Muslo. 
Languro, s. m. Back-door. Pos- 

tigo. 
Lao, s. m. A word. Palabra. 

Sans. Lapa (speaking.) Rus. 

Slobo. See Labelar. 
Larpa, s.f. A blow. Golpe. 
Lebate, s. m. Flint. Pedernal. 
Leberbena, s.f. Public walk 

planted with elms. Alameda. 
Legrente, s. m. A gallant. Ga- 

ldn. 
Lei, s. m. The world. Mundo. 
Lembresque, s.f. Lie, error. 

Mentira. 
Lemitre, v. Limitren. 
Len, s.f River. Rio. 
Lendriz,s./, Partridge. Perdiz. 
Leprefete, s. m. Parsley. Pere- 

ifl- 

Leprentero, s.m. Glazed pan. 

Lebrillo. 
Lerenes, s. pi. Letters. Letras. 
Li, s.f. Paper, a letter. Papel, 

carta. Sans. Li pi. 
Libanar, v. a. To write. Escri- 

bir. Sans. Likha. Hin. Likha. 
Libano. 5. m. Notary Public. 

Escribano. Sans. Lipikara. 

Hin. Likhunhara 
LiclirijS./. Lantern. Linterna. 



Liganda, s.f Tassel. Borla. 

Liguerar, v. a. To carry. Llevar. 

Lilibuto, s. m. Sale, despatch, 
bureau. Despacho. 

Lillar, v. a. To take. Tom;ir. 

Lillax, pr. n. Thomas. Tom.is. 
— This is one of the many 
ridiculous words manufac- 
tured by the "Aficion" of 
Seville. Lillar, in Gypsy, 
signifying "to take," in Spa- 
nish Tomar, they, by slight- 
ly modifying the word, have 
attempted to make it serve 
for "Tomas," or " Thomas:" 
whereby, unwittingly, they 
have converted an Apostle 
into a thief or shop-lifter; 
for such is Lillax, according 
to the principle of the Gypsy 
tongue. In like manner,from 
Lon, " salt," in Spanish Sat, 
they have coined Londilla 
for " parlour," because in 
Spanish it is called Sala ; 
whereas the proper meaning 
of Londilla is a " salt-cellar." 

Lilo, s.m. Fool, madman. Loco. 
Sans. Ligu. Mod. Gr. lialoq. 

Lima, s.f. Wood. Lena. 

Lima, s.f. Shirt. Camisa. 

Limbidiar, ) v.a.n. To return. 

Linbidiar, 5 Volver. 

Limitren, s. m. Monday. Lunes. 

Limutra,5./. Public walk. Ala- 
meda. 

Linaste, s. m. Motive. Motivo. 
^1 s. to. Fool, igno- 

Lipendi, I rant person. Ton- 

Lilipendi, f to,ignorante.Jlforf. 
J Gr. XujkortaiSu). 

Liquia,5./. Nit. Liendre. Sans. 
Liksha. Hin. Leikh. 

Lirenar, v. a. To read. Leer. 

Lirestres, s.pl. Letters. Letras. 

Liri, s.f. Law. Ley. 

Lirione, adj. Light. Lijero. 

Liripio, s. m. Lead. Plomo. 
Sans. Trapula. 

Listrabar, ~)v. a. To free. Li- 

Listramdr, ) bertar, librar. 

Listrabea, s.f Livery. Librea. 

Liter, s. m. Inscription. Letrero. 

Litinguagi, s.f. Dispute, law- 
suit. Pleyto. 

Lofi, s.f. Navel. Ombligo. 

Lole, >6\m. Love apple. To- 

Lolo, 5 n)ate. 

Lombardo, s. m. Lion, the pro- 
vince of Leon. Leon. Vid. 
Bombardo. 

Lon, s.f. Salt. Sil. Sans. La- 
vana. Hin. Lon. — Haperado 
la lon chingaripcn, " the salt 
of quarrel has fallen;" a 
proverbial expression of the 
Gypsies when they chance 
to drop salt, which they con- 
sider to be a prognostic ol 
strife. 

Londe, prep. For. by. Por. 

Londilla, 5./. Parlour, hall. Sal:i. 

Lon done, .v. to. Englishman. In- 
•rlos. — This word is derived 
from " London," which the 
Spaniards in general consi 



134 



THE ZIXCALI. 



der to be synonymous with 
England. 

Longono, s. m. Comfort. Con- 
suelo. 

Lorampio, s.m. A watch. Re- 
lox. 

Lore, s.m. Gnat. Mosquito. 

Loria, s f The sea. El mar. 
Pers. Darya, from the Sans. 
Toyjadhi. 

Loriazo, s. m. March. Marzo. 

Luandar, v. a. To hang up, 
weigh. Colgar. 

Luas, s.pl. Pesetas, coins. Pe- 
setas. 

Lucali, s.f. The river Gua- 
diana. — La Guadiana. — This 
word seems to be derived 
from Jubdl, q. v. 

Luchardo, s. m. Steel for strik- 
ing fire. Eslabon. 

Luchipen, s.f. Cliff, declivity. 
Cuesta. 

Lucrarre, s. Large jar. Tinaja. 

Luey,s. m. Wolf. Lobo. Greek, 
XvKog. [Fr. Loup.] 

Luli, s.f. Basket. Espuerta. 
Hin. Duliya. 

Lumi, } 

Lumia, S s.f Harlot. Ramera. 

Lumiaca, } 

Lunberu. s. m. Lantern. Farol. 

Luno, s.m. Sickle. Hoz. Sans. 
Lavanaka, Lavana. 

Luquindone,5.m. Cypress-tree. 
Cipres. 

Lurco, s. m. Well. Pozo. 

Luriandez, s.f. Thunder. True- 
no. It is probable that this 
word sprung from the same 
root as the Celtic Daran, 
which it very much resem- 
bles : which root seems to 
have been the Sanscrit In- 
dra, from which the Gothic 
"thunder," " donner," &c, 
are more immediately de- 
rived. Lur, in old Danish, 
signifies " a horn." 

Luricani, s.f. Guest-house. Po- 
sada. 

Lluslu, s. m. Water-parsnep. 
Berro. 

M. 

Maas, s.f Meat, flesh. Came. 
Sans. Mansa. Rus. Miaso. 

Maasengoro, s. m. A butcher. 
Carnicero. 

Maasquero, s. m. Shambles, 
public market-place. Carni- 
ceria, pkiza publica. 

Macache, adj. Dull. Torpe. 

Macolotende, s. m. The abode 
of the fish, i. e. the sea. El 
mar. — This word is com- 
pounded from the Sanscrit 
Machchha (fish) and Alaya 
(abode,) and is one of those 
beautiful metaphorical terms 
for the great deep with 
which "the divine language" 
abounds. 

Macota, s.f Drop. Gota. 

Madia, s.f Fly. Mosca. Sans. 
Makshilu. 



Machican, ) . ,-, . r, 4n J 

Machico, J'.w-ACat.Galo. 

Machingano, ")s.m. A drunk- 

Machargarno, 5 ar( k Borracho. 

Machiro, s. m. Witness. Tes- 
tigo. 

Macho, s.m. Fish. Pez. Sans. 
Machchha. Hin. Muchee. 

Machunu, s.f. Fish-market. 
Pescaderia. 

Madoy, s. m. A clove for eat- 
ing. Clavo de comer. 

Majara, adj. Half, middle. Me- 
dio. Sans. Madhya. 

Majara-chibel, s. Mid-day. Me- 
diojia. Sans. Divamadhya. 

Majares, s. m. pi. The saints. 
Los santos. 

Majari, s.f. The beatic one, i. e. 
The Virgin. La Virjen. 

MeLJ9.ro, adj. Holy. Santo. Mod. 
Gr. iiaxaqioq. 

Mai, 5. m. Comrade. Compa- 
nero. 

Malabar, v. a. To rob. Robar. 
Sans. Malucha. 

Maluno, s. m. Lightning. Re- 
lampago. Sans. Mahotka. 
Rus. Molnia. 

Mamucha, s.f Short carbine. 
Tercerola. 

Man, pron. pers. 1. Io. Pers. 
Man. 

Manchin, s. m. Treasure. Te- 
soro. 

Manclay, s. m. Prince. Prin- 
cipe. Sans. Madanalaya. 

Manclay i, s.f Princess. Prin- 
cesa. 

Mancon, 5. m. Hedge-hog. Eri- 
zo. Mod. Gr. sx iv °S' 

Mandela, s.f Cloak. Capa. 

Mang, s.f Meat, flesh. Carne. 
Vid. Maas. Hin. Mans. 

Mangue, the accusative of the 
pron. pers. Man. El acusa- 
tivo del pro. pers. Man. 

Manguelar, v. a. n. To entreat, 
beg. Pedir, rogar. Sans. Va- 
nika (beggar.) Hin. Mangna. 

Manpori, s./. Tail. Cola. 

Manricli, s.f. Kind of cake. 
Torta. 

Manro, s. m. Bread. Pan. In 
the Gypsy dialect of Eng- 
land, Morro. Hin. Roti. 

Manronas, s.pl. Bags (for 
bread.) Alforjas. 

Mansenquere.s./. Meat, flesh. 
Carne. Vid. Maas, mane. 

Mantroji, s.f. Wrist. Mufie- 
ca 

Manu, ) s. in. Man. Flombre. 

Manupe, ) From the Sans. 
Manu. i. e. Menu, " the first 
man, " the creator of the 
world," and " the giver of 
political institutes." 

Manus, s. m. A man. Hombre. 
In this form it is likewise 
found in the Sans. Manasha. 
Hin. Manus. 

Manusalo, adj. Valiant,^ pow- 
erful. Valiente. poderoso. 

Manusardi, .•>•./. Woman. Mujer. 
Sans. Manushi. 



Maqueo, s. m. Halter. Cabes- 

tro. Arab. Mekwad (rope ) 
Marabear, v. a. To grind. Mo- 

ler. 
Maramfios, s. m. Fennel. Hi- 

nojo. 
Manir, v. a. To kill. Matar. 
Maraol, s.m. Assassin. Ase- 

sino. 
Marcuri, s.m. Cat. Gato. Sans. 

Marjara. 
Marelar, v. a. To kill. Matar. 

Pers. Mirandan. 
Marmulli,s./. Wax. Cera. Pers. 

Mum. 
Marmuya, s.f. Ball. Bala. 
Maru, s. m. Man. Hombre. Pers. 

Mard. 
Mastronges,s. pi. Wrists. Mu- 

necas. 
Masune, s. Skirt. Falda. 
Masvaro, s. m. Flesh-market. 

Plaza de la carne. 
Matipen, s.f Drunkenness. 

Borracheria. Sans, Madi (to 

make drunk.) Pers. Masti. 
Mato, adj. and part. Drunk, 

drunken. Borracho. 
Matobar, v. a. To intoxicate. 

Emborrachar. Mod. Greek, 

Matogarno, s. m. Drunkard. 
Borracho. 

Meelfa, 5./. Measure. Medida. 

Melalo, s. m. A measure of 
wine, a drunkard. Medida 
de vino : tambien, borracho. 

Meligrana, s.f A pomegranate, 
The city of Granada, Gra- 
nada fruta, tambien, la ciu- 
dad de Granada. From the 
Italian, Melagrana. 

Men, pron. pos. Mine. Mi. 

Men, s. Person, honour. Per- 
sona, honor. — Su men "your 
lordship." Usted. From the 
Sans. Mana (to honour, re- 
spect.) 

Menbrerico, s.m. Purgatory. 
Purgatorio. 

Mencha, s.f Pudendum fe 
minse. Hin. Chicha. 

Menda, pron. pers. I. Io. 

Menderi, s.f. Phial. Limeta. 

Mendesqucro, adv. Less. Mo- 
nos. 

Mensalle, S.f. Table. Mesa. 

Mequelar, v. a. To leave, let 
go. Dejar. Sans. Moksha. 
Moorish, Ihalli. 

Merdipen, s.f. Wound. Ma- 
tad ura. 

Merdo, adj. Sick. Enfermo. 

Mericha, s.f. Bushel. Fanegn. 

Mericlen, s.f Yard, court 
Corral. 

Merinao, adj. An immortal. 
Suns. Marut. 

Meripen. s.f. Death. Muerte. 
Sans. Mar an a. Arab. Maradz. 

Mermelli, s.f. A taper. Vela. 

Mestepen, s /. Life. Vida. 

Mesiina.s./. Guest-house. Po- 
sada. 

Milan, s. m. One thousand. Mil. 

Miliyo, s. m. Heart. Corazun. 



VOCABULARY OP TIIEIR LANGUAGE. 



13; 



Milla, 5./. League. Legua. 

Pers. Mil. 
Minchabar, v. a. To produce, 

bring forth. Parir. 
Minchi, s.f. Pudendum femi- 

nse. In the English dialect, 

Mitcld. Sans. Madanayadha. 
Minchoro, s. m. The bully of 

a prostitute. El querido, 6 

rufian de una mujer publica. 
M\nrio,pron. poss. Mine. Mio. 
Minrricla,s./. Cloud. Nube. 

Sans. Mudira. 
Mirindia, adv. In the mean- 
while. Mientras. 
Mistos, adv. Well. Bien. 
Mochi, s.f. Doublet. Coleto. 
Mochique, 5. Mallet. Mazo. 
Mo\, s.m. Wine. Vino. A pure 

Persian word. 
Mollati. s.f. Grape. Uva. 
Monborico, s. and adj. Violet. 

Morado. 
Monrabar, v. a. To clip, shear. 

Esquilar. Vid. Munrabar. 
Monro, s.m. A friend. Amigo, 

Sans. Vandhu. 
Morchas.s. Skin, hide. Pellejo. 

Hin. Mushk. 
Morquilen, s. m. Mentula. 
Moscabis, adj. Enamoured. 

Enamorado. 
Mostarban, s. m. A traveller. 

Viajante. Arab. Mosafer. 
Mostipelo, s . m. Farm-house. 

Cortijo. 
Mu, pron. pers. pi. We, our- 
selves. Nosotros. 
Muchi, s.f. Spark. Chispa. 
Muchobelar, v. a. To wash. 

Lavar. Vid. Chobelar. Sans. 

Marjju. 
Muclar, v.n. To hold one's 

tongue. Callar. 
Muclar, v. n. To void urine. 

Orinar. 
Mui, s.f. Mouth, face. Boca, 

cara. De mamui. In front, 

De fr£nte. Sajis. Mukha. 

Hiii. Mukh. 
Mulani, adj. Sad. Triste. 
Mulati, s.f. The gallows. Horca. 
Mule 16, adj. Mortal. Mortal. — 

Crejete mulela, " mortal sin." i 

Pecado, "mortal." 
Mulo, s. m. A dead man. Mu- 

erto. Pers. Mordah. 
Munela, s.f. Cap. Gorra. 
Munrabar, ©.a. To clip, shear. 

Esquilar. 
Munrabador, s. m. A shearer. 

Esquilador. 
Muquelar,z?.a. To leave, aban- 
don. Dejar. Vid. Mequilar. 
Murcia, s.f. Arm. Brazo. 
Murciales, s.pl. Arm3. Brazos. 
Murciali, s.f. A sweet drink 

of wine, water, sugar, &c. 

Mistela. 
Mureo, s. m. A wall. Pared. 
Murmo 
Murno. 



}odj. 



Dear. Caro. 



Mus, conj. But, yet. Pero. [Fr. 

Mnis.] 
Musile, adj. Dumb. Mudo. 
Musley, s. m. Lamp. Candil. 



Mustiiiar, v. a. To extract, pull 

out. Saciir. 
Mutrar, v.n. To void urine. 

Orinar. Sans. Mutra. Hin. 

Mutna. 

N. 
Na, adv. No. Sans, and Pers. 

Na. [Welsh and A. Sax. id.] 
Nacar, v.n. To pass. Pasar. 
Nacardelar, v. a. To read. Leer. 
Nacicar, v. a. To grind, whet. 

Amolar. 
Nacle, s.f. Fire. Candela. 
Nafre, s. m. Thread. Hilo. 
Naguerindoy, s.f. Idle dis- 
course, conversation. Con- 

versacion. 
Najabar, v. a. To lose. Perder. 

Sans. Nakka (to destroy.) 
Najar, v.n. To flee. Huir. Hin. 

Nathna. 
Najipen, s.f. Loss, perdition. 

Perdida, perdicion. 
Najira, s.f. Banner, Bandera. 
Nanai, adv. No. 
Nansu,o.f/j. Pleasant. Chvisco. 
Nao, s.m. Name. Nombre. 

[Welsh Enw.] 
Naquelar, v. n. To pass. Pasar. 

Vid. Nacar. * 
Naqui,s./. Nostril. Nariz. Sans. 

Narkudaka. Hin. Nakh. 
Nardian, adv. Never. Nunca. 
Narsichisle, s. m. A dwarf. 

Enano. Sans. Nara (man,) 

Nichais (low.) 
Nasalo,arfj. Sick, infirm. En- 

fermo. 
Nasallipen, s.f. Sickness. En- 

fermedad. Mod. Gr.voaivf.ia. 
Nasti, adv. No. 
Nastibre, s.m. November. No- 

viembre. 
Nasula, s.f. The evil eye. Mai 

de ojo. 
Nausardan, adj. Vile. Vil. 
Ne, adv. No, not. Sans. Nahi. 
Nebel, adj. New. Nuevo. Sans. 

Navina. 
Nebo, adj. New. Nuevo. Sans. 

Nava. 
Nebor6,a</;. Small. young. Pe- 

queno, joven. 
Necaute, adj. None, not one. 

Ningun. 
Nicabar, v. a. To take away, 

steal. Quitar, robar. 
Nichobelar, v.n. To appear. 

Parecer. 
Niguillar, v. n. To go out. Salir. 

Hin. Nikulna. 
Nililo, s. m. Turkey, peacock. 

Pavo. 
Ninelo, s. m. Fool, ninny. Tonto. 
Nislo, adj. Prompt, quick. 

Pronto. 
Nivel, s.f. Ray. Raya. 
Nonabar, v. n. To swim. Na- 

dar. 
Nonrro, pron. poss. Our. Nues- 

tro. 
Noques, s. pi. Horns. Cuernos. 

Has. Roger. 
Norical, s. Snail. Caracol. 
Norungarse, v.r. To be angry. 

Enojarse. 



Norungy, adj. Angry. Eno- 

jado v 
Nostaro, s. m. Small coin. Cu- 

artillo. 
Nostu, s.m. Small coin. Cuarto. 
Noyme,n.^r. Noah. No6. 
Nu, pron. vers. ace. sin. Me. Me. 
Nu, adj. Nine. Nucve. Pers. 

Nuh. 
Nuca, 5./. Mother-in-law. Sue- 

gra. 
Nunutibe, s. m. July. Julio. 
Nutib6, s. m. June. Junio. 

O. 

O, art. dcf. The. El.— ex. gr. 

"Ocan," The sun. El sol. 
O, pron. pers. He. El. Pers. O. 
Oben, s. Winter. Invierno. 

Sans. Haimana. 
Obiserna,^./. Scabbard. Vayna. 
Ocajanaycha,5./. Hut. Cabana. 
Ocana, s.f. Hour. Hora. 
Ocanagimia, s.f. Prayer. Ora- 

cion. 
Ochardilo, s. m. Permission. 

Licencia. Hin. Choottee. 
Ochi, s.f. Soul, spirit. Alma, 

espiritu. Hin. Jee. 
Ochipa,s./. Fortune. Fortiina. 
Ochon, s. m. Month. Mes. 
Oclajita, s.f. Estate. Hacienda. 
Oclaye, 5.772. King. Rey. 
Oclinde,<wfo. Then. Entonces. 
Ocrianse, s. Ant. Hormiga. 
Odisilo, s. m. Vice. Vicio. 
Odoros, 5. pi. Jealous fancies. 

Zelos. 
Ogomo, s. m. Stomach. Esto- 

mago. Sans. Anga (bod v. 1 ) 

ml ojh. *V.T' 

Ojabesar,?j.a. To pardon. Per- 

donar. 
Ojarar, v. n. To remember. 

Acordar. 
Ojomon, s. m. Stomach. Esto- 

mago. 
Olacerar, v. n. To cost. Costar. 
Olajay, s.f. Curse. Maldicion. 
01ebarachi,s/. Midnight. Me- 

dianoche. 
Oleria, s.f. Roof-tile. Teja. 
Olibias, s.pl. Stockings. Me- 

dias. Rus. Obubh (shoes and 

stockings.) 
OKcha, s f. Street. Calle. Vid. 

Ulicha. 
Olilo, s. m. Heart. Corazon. 
Ollarub, s. m.. Wolf. Lobo. 
Oltarique, s. m. Plain. Campo. 
Olune, s. Sickle. Hoz. 
Oman, 5. m. Hole, pit. Hoyo, 

agujero. Sans. Avada. Rus. 

Obman (deceit, artifice.) 
Omito, s.m. Farrier. Albeytar. 
On, prep. In. En. 
Onchullao, adj. Having the 

dropsy. Hidropico. 
Onchullar, v.n.v.a. To grow 

fat, to fatten. Engordilr. 
Ondila, s.f Win<r. Ala. 
Ondinamo, s. m. Elm. Alamo. 
Ondoba, pron. dcm. This. Estc. 
Ondolay a, pron. pers. ft m. She. 

Ella. 
Ondole, pron. pers. mas. He. El. 



136 



THE ZINCALI. 



Ondoquel, pron. dem. That. 

Aquel. 
Onrrcs, s.f. Skirt. Falda. 

Operisa, s.f Salad. Ensalada. 

Opoy,s. Pupil of the eye. Nina 
del ojo. 

Opre, adv. Above. Encima. 
Hin. Ooupur. Gr. vticq. 

Opucher, s.f. Occasion. Oca- 
sion. 

Or. Vid.O. 

Oranpion. s.m. Watch. Reloj. 

Orasta, s.f. Play, comedy. 
Comedia. 

Or-bajando, s. m. Drum. Tam- 
bor. Literally, the thing that 
is touched or beaten. Vid. 
Pajabar. 

Orcajaiii, s.f. ('age. Jaula. 

Orchiri, s.f. Beauty. Hermo- 
sura. 

Orfi,s/. Fig. Higo. Sans. 
Avarohin. 

Orioz, s.m. Wolf. Lobo. 

Orobar, v. n. To weep. Llorar. 
Sans. Ruda. Hin. Rowuya 
(weeping.) 

Orobrero, s.m. Thought. Pen- 
samiento. 

Orocana, s.f. Foot-path. Senda. 

Orondar, v. a. To seek. Bus- 
car. 

Oropate, s.f. Ant. Hormiga. 

Oropatia, s.f. Leaf. Hoja. Pro- 
bably from, the Sanscrit com- 
pound Gurupatra (large leaf.) 

Oropatiara, interject. God grant. 
Ojala. 

Oropendola, s.f. Will. Volun- 
tad. 

Oropera,s./. Company. Com- 
pania. 

Oropielar, v. a. To suck the 
breast. Mamar. — Coin ne 
orobiela ne oropiela, " He 
who does not weep, does not 
suck. — Gypsy Proverb. 

Orosque, s. m. Copper. Cobre. 
Properly, Brass. Sans. Ara- 
kuda. 

Orotar, v. a. To seek. Buscar. 
Vid. Orondar. 

Orpachirima,5./. Patience. Pa- 
ciencia. 

Ortalame, s. m. Plain, field. 
Campo. 

Orteli, s./. Love. Amor. 

Oruji,s./. Rind,husk. Cascara. 

Orzica, s.f Harlot. Ramera. 

Ospanto, 5.W. Pompion, cala- 
bash. Calabaza 

Ospesimia, s.f. Spice. Especia. 

Ostabar, v. a. Rob. Robar. 

Ostalique, s. Plain, field. Campo. 

Oste, tit. hon. Your worship. 
Usted. pi. Ostelende. 

0stebel,5.m. God. Dios. Vid. 
Debel. 

Ostelinda, s.f. Goddess, the 
Virgin. Diosa, la Virgen. 

Ostelc, ? fld ;vH nd "» be1 ^- 
Ostely', \ tzstl 
Ostil'ir, v. a. To rob. Robar. 
Ostilador, s.m. Robber, thief. 
Ladron. 



Ostinar,r. a. n. To awake. Des- 

pertar. 
Ostor, adj. Eight. Ocho. 
Ostord i.,adj. Eighty. Ochenta. 

Pers. Hashtad. 
Osuncho, s. m. Pleasure. Placer. 
Osune, adj. Obscure, dark. Os- 

curo. 
Otal, 5. m. The heavens. El 

cielo. 
Otan, adv. Already. Ya. 
Otarpe, s.m. The heavens. El 

cielo. 
Ote, adv. There, yonder. Alii, 

alia. Hin. Uthe. 
Otembrolilo, s. m. Heart. Co- 

razon. 
Otoba, pron. dem. That. Aquel. 
Otollojo, adj. Tame. Manso. 
Oto, adj. Eight. Ocho. Vid. 

Ostor. 
Otorbar, s. m. October. Octu- 

bre. 
Oygue, s. m. Lodging for sol- 
diers. Cuartel. 
Ozandi, s.f. Hempen sandal. 

Alpargata. 

P. 

Pa, prep. For. Para. 

Pacuaro, adj. Handsome, pret- 
ty. Bonito. — The Gypsies 
have a trick, which they 
employ when they wish to 
get rid of an animal with an 
ugly neck and head : they 
place him in an attitude by 
which his ugliness is partly 
concealed from the chapman, 
which they call.De pacuaro. 
The word is pure Persian, 
Pacru. [Lat. Pule her.] 

Pachabelar, v. a. To believe. 
Creer. Sans. Puja (to reve- 
rence.) 

Pachandra, s.f. The festival of 
Easter. Pascua. 

Pacharracar,r. a. To sow. Sem- 
brar. 

Pacbatrar, v. a. To pound, 
break to pieces. Machacar. 

Pachi, s.f. Modesty, honour, 
virginity. Verguenza, virji- 
nidad. Suns. Puja. 

Pachibalo, adj. Honest, ho- 
nourable. Honrado. 

Pachibar,0.a. To honour. Hon- 
rar. Rus. Pachitat. 

Paehimaehi, s.f. Foot and leg. 
Pata. 

Pachuno, adj. Modest, bashful. 
Vergonzoso. 

Paillo, 5. m. One who is not a 
Gypsy. El que ne es Jita.no. 

Pajabar. v. a. To touch, feel. 
Tocar, tentar. Sans. Pricha. 

Pajanbo, s.f. Temptation. Ten- 
tacion. 

Pajandi,5./. Guitar. Guilarra. 
Literally, Tbe thing that is 
touched or played upon. 

Paiardo, *. m. Watch. Reloj. 

Pajilaa, s. A ball. Peldta. 

Paiin,*./. Part. Parte. Sans. 
Paksha. 

Pajorias, s.pl. Ribs. Costillas. 



Pajumi, s.f. Flea. Pulga. 

Palabear, v. a. To shave. Afetar. 
Sans. Palyula (to cut.) 

Palal, adv. Behind. Atras, de- 
tras. 

Palard. Vid. Pajardo. 

Palchandra,s./. Carnival. Car- 
nestolendas. 

Paldum,5. m. Hunchback. Jo- 
robado. 

Palife, adj. Exquisite. Esqui- 
sito. Sans. Pelava (delicate.) 

PalomiaSjS.pf. Hips. Caderas. 

Paluli, s.f. Acorn. Bellota. 
Pers. Palid. Arab. Ballut. 

Paluno, s. in. A wood, farm- 
house. Bosque, tambien cor- 
lijo. Sans. Palla (kind of 
sbed.) 

Panchabar, Vid. Pachabelar. 

Pa.nche, adj. Five. Cinco. Pers. 
Panj. 

Pancherdi, adj. Fifty Cincu- 
enta. 

Pandar, v. a. Vid. Pandelar. 

Pandela, s.f. Frying-pan. Sar- 
ten. Jta/. Padella. 

Pandelar, v. a. To enclose, to 
tie, to shut. Atar, cerrar. 
Sans. Vandha. Pers. Pay- 
wandan. 

Pandipen, s.m. Dungeon, pri- 
son. Calabozo, carcel- 

Panelar, v. n. To leap, jump. 
Saltar. Sans. Plava. 

Pani, s.f. Water. Agua. Sans. 
Paniya, Pavana. Hin. Panic 

Paniscaia,5./. Water-melon. — 
Sandia. 

Pansiberarse, v. r. To live in 
concubinage. Amancebarse. 

Pantaluno,s. m. A Frenchman. 
Frances. — This is a cant 
word, and not Gypsy. 

Pani, s.f. Vid. Pani. 

Papajoy,5./. Parable. Parabola. 

Paparuiii, s.f. Grandmother. 
Abuela. 

Papimia, s.f. Flea. Pulga. 

Papiri, 5. Paper. Papel. 

Paque, adv. Near at hand. 
Cerca. 

Paquilli, s.f Silver. Plata. 

Parabar, v. a. n. To break. Par- 
tir, romper. 

Paraiii, s.f. Broom. Escdba. 
Hin. Burhni. 

Paratute,s.?rc. Rest. Descanso. 
Sans. Parajata (adopted, nou- 
rished.) 

Parauco, *. m. Care. Cuidado. 
See the last. 

Parbarar, v. a. To nurse, edu- 
cate. Criar. Sans. Parajata 
(adopted.) Pers. Parwardan. 

Parbaraura, s.f. A child, in- 
fant. Criatuni. 

Pare hand i,5./. Easter. Pascua. 
Vid. Pachandra. 

Parcbandrero, adj. Ragged, slo- 
venly. Dospilfarrado. 

Parcharique, adj. Obstinate. 
Port! a do. 

Tardy, s.f. Tinder. Yesca. 

Pariolar, v. n. To rage. Uabi;ir. 

Paripen, s. m. Danger. Peligro. 



VOCABULARY OP THEIR LANGUAGE. 



137 



Pnrlacha, s.f. Window. Ven- 
tana. 

Parlaora, s.f. A letter. Car- 
ta. 

Parne, s. m. White or silver 
money. Dineros blancos, i. e. 
De plata. 

Parno, adj. White. Blanco. 
Sans. Pandu. 

Paroji, s.f. Leaf. Hoja. 

Parracha, s.f. Wave. Onda. 

Parrotobar, v. n. To fast. Ayu- 
nar. 

Parta, s.f. Ribbon. Cinta. 

Parugar, v. a. To exchange, 
barter. Cambiar. trocar. Sans. 
Parivatta (exchange,) Para- 
spara (interchanging.) 

Paruipen,5. m. Exchange, bar- 
ter. Cambio. 

Paruni, s.f. Grandmother. Abu- 
ela. 

Pas, adj. Half. Medio. Pas- 
chibe, Half-day, i. e. Noon, 
Medio-dia. In like manner, 
the English Gypsies say,Pas- 
korauni, "Half-a-crown," &c. 

Pasabia, 5./. Strength. Fuerza. 

Pas-callico, s. m. The day after 
to-morrow. Pasadomanana. 

Pas-pile, Half drunk. Medio 
borracho. 

Pasque, s.f. The half. Mitad. 
Sans. Bhaga. 

Pastia,5./. Frog. Rana. [Arab. 
Dzafda'.] 

Pastimache, s. . Footstep. Pi- 
sada. 

Pu3uno, s.m. Farm-house. 
Cortijo. 

Pa,tupire,5. Staircase. Escalera. 
Sans. Pad (a foot) 

Pavi, s.f Nostril. Nariz. 

Pea, s.f. Chair, Saddle. Silla. 

Pebuldorico, adj. Catholic. Ca- 
tolico. — Cangri Pebuldorica 
y Rebuldorica, " Catholic 
and Apostolic Church." 

Pecalis, s.f. French silk. Seda. 
Francesa. 

Pechisla, s. m. Sexton. Sacris- 
tan. 

Peco, adj. Roasted. Asado. 
Sans. Pakka from Pacha (to 
cook.) Pers. Pokhtan. Rus. 
Petsch (oven.) 

Pelanbru, s.f. Pen. Plurna. 

Pele, s.pl. Eggs, the genitals. 
Huevos, los jenitales. Sans. 
Pela. 

Pen, A particle frequently 
used in the Gypsy language 
in the formation of nouns ; 
e.g.Chungalipen," ugliness," 
or "an ugly thing;" in which 
word the particle Pen is af 
fixed to Ckungalo, " ugly." 
Una particula de que fre- 
cuentemente se sirve en Ji- 
tano para la formacion de 
substantives. 

Penar, i.a. To say, speak. 
Decir, hablar. Hin. BoJna. 

Penchahar,© n. To think. Pen- 
sar. Hin. Bicharna. 

Pendar. Vid. Penar. 



Pendebre, s. m. December. Di- 
ci6mbre. 

Penebri,*./. Root. Rafz. 

Peniche,5. m. The Holy Ghost 
El Espiritu Santo. Greek, 
Tlvev/xa. 

Penascoro, ) 5. m. Brandy. Agu- 

Penaquero, ) ardiente (fire- 
drink.) Sans. Pana (drink- 
ing,) Agira (fire.) 

Peiiaspe, 5.7n. Blunderbuss. 
Trabuco. 

Pepedro, s. m. Plain, field. Cam- 
po. 

Peperes, s. m. Pepper. Pimien- 
to. Sans. Pippali. 

Per, prep. For, by. Por. 

Perar, v. n. To fall. Caer. Hin. 
Purnar. 

Perbarar, v. a. To create. Criar. 

Perbaraor, s. m. Creator. Cria- 
dor. 

Percara,^./. Tongue. Lengua. 

Perdine, s.f. Musket. Escopeta. 

Perdineles, s. pi. Musketeers. 
Escopeteros. 

Perdo, adj. Full. Lleno. 

Perdobal, s.m. A debauchee. 
Tunante. 

Perdoripe, adj. Full. Lleno. 

Perelalo, adj. Full. Lleno. Sans. 
Purita. 

Perfine, adj. Necessary. Pre- 
cise Mod. Gr. TiQenet. 

Pergenamiento, 5. m. Feeling, 
grief. Sentimiento. 

Pergenar, v. a. To feel. Sentir. 

Pergoleto, s. m. Pilgrim. Pere- 
grino. 

Perifuye, s.m. Worm, rep- 
tile. 

Perindola, s.f. Ball. Bola. Sans. 
Parimandala, Pinda. Hin. 
Pinda. 

Peris, n.p. Cadiz. 

Perma,5./. Yolk of Egg. Yema. 

Pernasi, s.f. Salad. Ensalada. 

Perpello, s.m. Calf. Becerre. 

Perpelo, s. m. Peach. Mekco- 
ton. 

Perpeni, s.f. Bridge. Fuente. 

Perpiche, s. m. Cat. Gato. 

Perplejo, s. m. Fright. Susto. 

Persibarao, adj. Lining in con- 
cubinage. Ama^cebado. 

Persibararse, v.r. To live in 
concubinage. Amancebarse. 

Persifuye, s. m. Worm, reptile. 
Bicho. Vid. Perifuye. 

Persine, adj. Savage, fierce. 
Bravo. 

Persos, conjunc. Because. Por- 
que, 

Perto, 5.W. Bolt. Cerrojo. 

Pertraba, s.f Knapsack. Mo- 
chila. 

Fespuro, s. m. Pepper. Pimi- 
ento. 

Pesquibar, v. a. n. To taste, en- 
joy. Gustiir. 

Pesquilar,r. a. To deceive. En- 
gaiiar 

Pesquital, s. m. Pleasure. Pla- 
cer, gusto. 

Petali,s./. Horse-shoe. Herra- 
dura. Mud. Gr.ntxaXuv. 

N 



Petallas, s.pl. Horse-shoes. 

Herraduras. 
Petalli, s.f. Lodging. Posada. 

Mod. Gr. OTrijTt (a house.) 
Petano, s. m. Calf. Becerro. 
Petra,s./. A fall. Caida. Sans. 

Patayalu. 
Peujo, 5.771. He-goat. Macho 

cabrio. 
Pichibibi,5./. Linnet. Jilguero. 
Pichiscas, s.f. Cough. Tos. 

Sans. Vikshava. Mod. Gr. 

Pico, 5. 771. Shoulder. Hombro. 
Picon, Tip. La Mancha. — This 

word seems to belong to the 

Germania, or cant dialect. 
Piltra, s.f Bed. Cania. 
Pilvo, adj. Bald. Calvo. 
Pincherar, v. a. r. To know, to 

be acquainted with. Conocer. 

Hin. Puh-channa. 
Pindorri, s.f. Girl, lass. Mu- 

chacha. 
Pindorro, 5. m. Boy, lad. Mu- 

chacho. 
Pindrabar. v. a. To open. Abrir. 

Hin. Bihurna. 
Pindro, 7 5. 7». Foot. Pie. pi. 
Pinro, 5 Pinres. [Sayis. Pad.] 
Pinre-bustaro, The right foot. 

El derecho. 
Pinre-can, The left foot. El 

izquierdo. 
Pinnelar,t».a. To paint. Pinttir. 
Pinpore, 5. m. Lip. Labio. 
Pinsorra, s.f. Crab-louse. La- 

dilla. 
Pipindorio, n.p. Antonio. 
Pipochi, s.f. Block, stock. Cepo. 
Pirabar. v. r. a. To copulate, to 

heat. Copuliir, calentar. Mod. 

Gr. nvooivia. Sans. Pallava 

(i'ove.) 
Pirando, s. m. Lover, libidinous 

person. Amante, hombre li- 

bidonoso. Sans. Peiradarika. 
Pirar, v. n. To walk. Andar. 

Properly, To fly. Pers. Pari- 

dan. 
Piri, s.f. Earthen pot. Olla. 

Sans. Pithara. 
Piribicha, s.f. Female lizard. 

Lagarta. Vid. Berbirincha. 
Piribicho, 5. m. Lizard. La- 
gar to. 
Piro, 5.771. Foot. Pie. Vid. 

Pinro. 
Pisabais, s.pl. Buckles. Hebil- 

las. 
Pispindi,5./. Pepper-plant. Pi- 

micnto. 
Pispiri, s.f Pepper. Pimicnta. 
Pispirucha, s.f. Widow. Viuda. 
Pista, s.f. Account. Cuenta. — 

" Dinar pista," " To give ac- 
count." Dar cuenta. 
Pita, 5./. Drink, beverage. Be- 

bida. Rus. Pitic. 
Piuli,5./. Widow. Viuda. Pers. 

Biwah. 
Piyar, v. a. To drink. Beber. 

Sans. Pivati. Hi*. Piya-k. 
Placo, s.m. Tobacco. Tabaco. 

Literally, Dust, powder. Rus. 

Prak. 



138 



THE ZINCALI. 



, ~)s.m. Brother. Herma- 
i t C no.— The first of 
to, j these words is nei- 



Plai,s./. A mountain. Sierra, 
montana. 

Plajista, s. m. Smuggler of to- 
bacco. Contrabandista de ta- 
baco. 

Plal, ") 5. m. Brother. Herma 

Plan 

Piano, „ 
ther more nor less than the 
English Pal, a cant expres- 
sion much in use amongst 
thieves, which signifies a 
comrade or brother in vil- 
lany. 

Plani, s.f. Sister. Hermana. 
Sans. Bhgani. 

Plasarar, v. a. To pay. Pagar. 
Rus. Platit. 

Plastariar, v. a. To follow, to 
pursue. Seguir. Sans. Pras- 
thana (march.) 

Plastani, s f. A company, a 
band of people pursuing 
thieves. Compania, caterva 
que sigue a ladrones. 

£J\ ta ' Is. Cloak. Capa. 

Platamugion, ) 

Platesquero,s.ra. Court. Patio. 

Platilla, s.f. Straw. Paja. 

Playi,s./. Importunity. Porfia. 

Plescari, adj. Clear. Claro. 

Plubi, s.f. Silver. Plafa (pro- 
perly, Rupi.) Sans. Raupya. 

Flaco,adj. Strange, rude. Fan- 
tastico, basto. Rus. Plok. 

Po,5.m. Belly. Vientre. 

Poba, s.f. Apple. Manzana. 
[Lat. Pomum.] 

Poban6,s.ra. Apple-tree. Man- 
zano. 

p „^aJ^ DuC!lt ' Du<!4d0 - 

Polvorosa.s./. Road, way. Ca- 
mino. — This is a cant ex- 
pression, and does not pio- 
perly belong to the Gypsj 
language. 

Pomi, s.f. Silver. Plata. 

Pondesquero, s.m. Pontiff, chief. 
Pontifice, cabo. 

Pondone, s. m. Mattress. Col 
chon. 

Poquinar,t5.a. To pay. Pagar. 
Hin. Pukrana. 

For, s.f Feather. Pluma. Pers. 
Par. Rus. Pero. [He&.Ebher, 
pinion.] 

Porescaro, s. m. Governor of a 
town. Gobernadorde ciudad. 
Sans.Fm'i (city,) Kara (lord.) 

Pori, s.f. Tail. Cola. 

Porias,s. pi. Bowels. Entranas. 
Sans. Puritat. 

Porsumi, s.f. Onion. Cebolla. 

Pos, s. Belly. Barriga. [Rus. 
Puzo. Ger. Bauch.] 

Posilati, adv. Compulsively, by 
force. Por fuerza. 

Postan,s.m. Skin. Pitt. Pers. 
Pust. Also, Linen, Lienzo. 
Properly, The skin or hide 
in which smuggled goods 
are wrapped. 

Postaiii, s.f Parcel of smug- 
gled goods Contrabando. 

Posters. m. Bosom. P6cho. 



Posuno,s.m. Courtyard. Cor- 

rah 
Potosi, s. Bottomless abyss. 

Abisimo sin fondo. Vid. Bu- 
tton. Also, A pocket, Faltri- 

quera. 
Prachindo. adj. Dirty. Sucio. 

From the Sans. Raja (dust.) 
Prasni, s.f. A family, a tribe. 

Familia, tribu. Sans. Pras- 

tita (crowded, swarming.) 
Pray, s.f. Mountain. Montana. 

Vid. Plai. 
Pre, prep. For. Por. 
Prelumina, s.f. Week. Semana. 
Presa s,conjunc. Because. Por- 

que. 
Presimelar, v. a. To begin. Em- 

pezar. Sans. Prastavana (be- 
ginning.) 
Prestani, s.f. Pasture-ground, 

meadow. Dehesa. 
Prevarengue,5. Hell. Infierno. 

Sans. Pratapana. 
Pritingina,5./. Week. Semana. 
Probosquero, s.m. Herald, com- 
mon crier. Pregonero. 
Prochibar, v. a. To offer. Ofre- 

cer. 
Protobolar, v. a. To cure. Cu- 

rar. 
Prulano, s. m. Hedgehog. Erizo. 
Prumi, s.f. Beard, chin. Barba. 
Prusiatini, s.f. Pistola. 
Pucanar, v. a. Proclaim. Pre- 

gonar. Hin. Pukarnar. 
Pucano, s. m. Herald, common 

crier. Pregonero. 
Puchabar, > v. a. To question. 
Pucharar, $ Preguntar. Prach- 

chha. Hin. Puchna. 
Puchel, s.f. Life. Vida. 
Pujumi, s.f. Flea. Pulga. 
Pul,s.m. Abridge. Puente. 

This word is pure Persian. 

Sans. Pali. 
Pumen, s. m. Shoulder. Hom- 

bro. 
Putu,5./. Trouble, affliction.— 

Pexia. 
Punsa'oo, s. m. Beak. Pico. 
Pur, adt. When. Cuando. 
Purelar, e.n. To be born. Na- 

cer. 
Puro, adj. Old. Viejo. Sans. 

Pura. Pers. Pir. 
Pus, s. m. Strav. Paja. Hin. 

Bhusa. 
Pusabar, v. a. To prick. Picar. 
Pusca, s.f Muskei. Escopeta. 

Rus. Pushca. 
Puscali,5./. Pen, feather. Plu- 
ma. 
Putar, s. m. Well. Pozo. Sans. 

Patala. 
Puy, s. Straw. Paja. 

Q. 

Quejelano, adj. Open, clear, 

unincumbered. Raso. 
Quejeiia, s.f. Custom-house. 

Aduana. 
Qucjosa,^./. Silk. S6da. Sans. 

Kauseya. 
Quelalla, s.f. Egg-plant. Be- 

rengena. 



Quelar, v. n. To dance. Baylar. 

•Sans. Kela (to sport.) 
Quelati, s.f. A rial, coin. Real. 
Quele, s. m. Dance. Bayle. 
Quelebao, s. m. Dancer. Bay- 

lador. 
Queliben, s.f. Declaration. De- 

claracion. 
Quer, s. m. House. Casa. Sans. 

Agara. Hin. Ghur. 
Querabar, v. a. To cook. Gui- 

sar. Vid. Jiribar. Hin. Kurna. 
Querar, ) »• £ To do, make. 

Querelar nasula, To cast the 

evil eye. Aojar. 
Querdi, par. pass. Done.Hecho. 

Pers. Kardeh. 
Querescaro, s. m. Steward, but- 
ler. Mayordomo. 
Querisar,r. a. To scratch. Ara- 

nar. 
Querlo, s.m. Neck, throat Pes- 

cuezo. Sans. Gala. Pers. 

Galu. Rus. Gorlo. 
Querosto,s.m. August. Agos- 

to. 
Quichardila, s f. Stain. Man- 

cha. 
Quichardino, adj. Tight, hard, 

mean. Apretado, 
Quichi, adj. adv. As many as, 

concerning. Cuanto. — On 

quichi, "Inasmuch." En 

cuanto. 
Quicia, s.f. Basket. Espuerta. 
Quiguinibe, s. m. A cook. Co- 

cinero 
Quijari, s.f Stirrup. Estribo. 
Quilen, s. Mentula. 
Quillaba, s.f. Prune. Ciruela. 
Quimbila, s.f. Company. Com- 
pania. 
Quimbilo, s. m. Companion. 

Companero 
Quimpinar, v. a. To swallow. 

Tragar. 
Quimuqui, s.f. Gimlet. Barre- 

na. 
Quinar, v. a. To buy. Comprar. 

Hin. Kinna. [Arab. Kana.] 
Quinate, s. m. Cheese. Queso. 
Quindia, s.f. A species of bean. 

Abichuela. 
Quinguina, s.f. Kitchen. Co- 

cina. 
Quinao, adj. Tired. Cansado. 
Quiquiria, s.f. Bug. Chinche. 

Hin. Khut-kira. Mod. Greek, 

KOQig. 

Quira, >s./. Cheese. Queso. 

Quiralis, ) Mod. Greek, tvqu 

Quiria, s.f. Ant. Hormiga. 

Quiribi, s.f. Godmother. Co- 
madre. 

Quiribo,s.m. Godfather Com- 
p.idre. 

Quirindia, adj. Most holy (fe- 
male.) Santisima. — " Debla 
quirindia," " Most blessed 
Virgin." Maria Santisima. 

Quisi,s./. Purse. Bolsa. Pers. 
Kisch. 

Quisobu, s.m. Money-bag, 
pouch Bolsillo. 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



139 



R. 

Raco, s. m. A crab. Cangrejo. 

Rus. Rak. 
Rachar, v. a. n. To meet. En- 

contrar. 
Rachi, s.f. Night. Noche. Sans. 

Ratri. Hin. Rat. 
Ran, s.f. Rod. Vara.— With- 
out doubt, one and the same 
with the Bengalic Ratan, 
Sanscrit Ratha ; whence the 
English Rod, and German 
Ruthe. 
Randar, v. a. To rob. Robar. 
Randar, v. a. To write. Escri- 

bir. 
Rande, s. m. Thief. Ladron. 

Pers. Rend. 
Randinar, v. n. To work, la- 
bour. Labrar. 
Randinipen, s.f. A writing. 

Escritura. 
Rapipocha, s.f. A fox. Zorra. 
Rapipoche, s. m. Dungeon. Ca- 

labozo. 
Rasajel, adj. Oppressed. Opri- 

mido. 
Rastrajel, adj. Miserable. Mise- 
rable. 
Rati, s.f. Blood. Sangre. Sans. 

Rakta. Rus. Ruda. 
Rebardroy, s.f. Obstinacy, re- 
belliousness. Rebeldia. 
Reblandani, s.f. Stone. Pie- 

dra. 
Reblandete, s. m. Mat, clout. 

Pallete. 
Reblanduy, adj. Second. Se- 

gundo. 
Reblantequere, 5. to. Joint. Co- 

yuntura. 
Rebrino, s. to. Respect. Re- 

speto. 
Rebuldorico, adj. Apostolic. 

Apostolico. 
Recafa, s.f. Heat. Calor. 
Recardi, adj. Dragged along. 

Arrastrado. 
Reche, s. Cane, reed. Cana. 
Rechibilly, s.f. A little net. 

Redecilla. 
Rechipatis, adj. Naked. Des- 

nudo, en cueros. 
Rechitar, v. a. To patch, mend. 

Remendar. 
Redundis, s. pi. Chick-peas. 

Garbanzos. 
Rejelendre, s.m. A proverb. 

Refran. 
Rejonisa, s.f. Dough. Masa. 
Relichi, s.f. Net. Red. 
Relli, s.f. lnclosure. Cercado. 
Remacha,s./. Procuress. Alca- 

hucta. 
Remarar, v. a. n. To finish. Re- 

matar, acabar. 
Rendepe, adj. Round. Redondo. 
Repani, s.f. Turnip, radish. 
Nabo. Sans. Haritparna. Mod. 
Gr. Qanavi. [Ger. Ruben.] 
Repani, s.f. Brandy. Aguar- 
diente. 
Repurelar, v. a. To resuscitate. 

Resucitar. 
Resaronomo, adj. Cheap. Ba* 
r.ito 



Resis, s.f. Cabbage. Col. 
Retamo, s. to. Cloak. Capote. 
Retejo, adj. Content, merry. 

Contento. 
Retreque, s.f. Pestilence, 

plague. Peste. 
Reutilar, v. a. To withdraw. Re- 

tiiar. 
Reyi, s.f Dust. Polvo. Sans. 

Raja. Pers. Rayg. 
Rias, s.f. Damsel. Doncella. 
Rifian, 5. to. Danger. Peligro. 
Rilar, v.n. To belch. Peer, 
Rilo, s. to. Belching. Pedo. 
Rilli, s.f. Wax. Cera. 
Rin, s.f. Engine for drawing 
water. Noria. Properly, A 
river. Icelandic, Rin. 
Rinballar, v. a. To pull up by 

the roots. Arrancar. 
Ro. Vid. Rom. 

Rocamblo, s. to. A friend. Ami- 
go. Sans. Raksha (protect- 
ing.) 
Rochimel, s. to. River. Rio. 

Mod. Gr. Qvaxt. 
Roi, s.f. Flour. Harina. Hin. 

Rui. 
Roin, s.f. Spoon. Cuchara. 
Rolli, s f. Spoon. Cuchara. 
Rom, s. to. A husband, a mar- 
ried man, a Gypsy. Marido, 
hombre casado, un Jitano. 
Sans. Rama. 
Roma, s. pi. The Husbands ; 
the goneric name of the na- 
tion or sect of the Gypsies. 
Los maridos, i. e. nombre je- 
nerico de la nacion 6 secta 
de los Jitanos. 
Romi, s.f. A married woman, 
a female Gypsy. Mujer ca- 
sada, Jitana. 
Romalis, s.f. A Gypsy dance. 

Danza Jitana. 
Romandinar, v.n. To marry. 

Casar. 
Romandiiiipen, s.f. A mar- 
riage, bridal. Casamiento. 
Romani, s.f. The Rommany 
or Gypsy language. Lengua 
de los Jitanos. 
Romani-chal. s. Gypsy-grass, 
a species of plant. La yerba 
de los Jitcinos una planta. 
Romuy, s.f. The face. Lacara. 
Roscorre, s.m. Lamb. Cordero. 
Rotuiii, s.f. Mouth. Boca. Rus. 

Rot. 
Rudelar, v.a.n. To answer. 

Responder, contestar. 
Rujia, s.f. Rose. Rosa. 
Rulisarra, s.f. Knee. Rodilla. 
Rullipate,s./. Wheel. Rueda. 

Sans. Rathapada. 
Rullitagar, v. a. To turn up- 
side down. Trastornar. 
Rullitaque. Vid. Rullipate. 
Rumijele, s. m. Pilgrim ; also, 
Rosemary. Rom6ro. 

S. 
Sabocar, v. a. To inhabit. Ha- 

bitar. Sans. Sabha (house.) 
Saces, s.pl. Irons, chains. Ca- 

d6nas. 



Safacoro, 71.7;. The city of Se- 
ville. Sevilla. 

Salamisto, s.m. Physician. Me- 
dico. 

Salchuyo,5.?n. Anvil. Yunque. 

Salquero, s. to. A glass. Vaso. 

Salvaiii, s.f. A long sausage. 
Longaniza. 

Sampuni, s.f. Soap, Jabon. 
Properly, The Hindoo sham- 
pooing or rubbing. Sans. Sa- 
vahana. Mod. Gr. oanovn. 
Germ. Seife, &c. 

Sane, s.m. Sausage. Chorizo. 

Sapumetelli, s f. Trumpet. 
Trompcta. Modern Greek, 

Sar, s. m. Iron. Hierro. Sans. 

Sarana. 
Sar, prep. With. Con. 
Sar, s. to. Garlick. Ajo. Hin. 

Seer. 
Saraballi, s.f Money, coin. 

Moneda. Arab. Dzarb. 
Saracate, s. m. Tailor. Sastre. 

Sans. Sauchika. 
Saray,s. in. Sergeant. Sarjento. 
Sarballeri, adj. Convalescent. 

Convaleciente. 
Sardana, s.f. Favour. Gracia. 
Sardenar, v. a. To condemn. 

Condenar. 
Sardo, s. in. Brandy. Aguar- 
diente. Sons. Sandluina. 
Sarmenda, With me. Conmigo. 

Vid. Sar, menda. 
Sarmufie, adj. Prompt, quick. 
Pronto. Sans. Sambhama. 
(haste.) 
Saro, adj. All. Todo. Sans. 

Sarvva. Pers. Sayr. 
Saro, asisiluble, All-powerful. 

Todo poderoso. 
Sarplar,a. a. To pass judgment. 

Juzgar. 
Sarquere, s. m. Glass, cup. Vaso, 
Sans. Saraka. Pers. Saghar. 
Sarquerin,s.?ri. Large pan. Ba- 

cin. 
Sarraoatin, s. to. Huckster. Re- 

gaton. 
Sarrasinir.7j.71. To laugh. Reir. 
Sarsale, With him. Con el. 

Vid. Sar. 
Sarsos, So that. Con que. Vid. 

Sar, sos. 
Sarta, adv. How, as, why. 

Como. 
Sas, s. to. Iron. Hierro. Sans. 

Ayasa. 
Sasta, adv. As, how. until. 
Como, hasta. Sans. Saddasa. 
Saste, adj. High, tall. Alto. 

Sans. Sada (crest.) 
Sasteji,s/. Complaint. Queja. 
Sastri, s. Relation. Parientc. 
Sat. prep. With. Con. Sans. 

Saba. 
Sata,flr/o. As, how. Como. Vid. 

Sarta, Sasta. 
Saullo, s.m. Colt. Potro. 
Seffritin, adj.fcm. Last. 'Ul- 
tima. 
Segriton.ar/y. to. Last. 'Ultimo. 
Seirron, s. m. J'ruit, benefit. 
Fruto. 



140 



THE ZINCALI. 



Selvani, s.f. Buffet. Bofetada. 

Semuche, s. m. Monkey. Mico. 

Senjen, s. pZ. Spaniards. Espa- 
noles. 

Sentalli, s.f. Front. Frente. 

Seiieba, s. Fowl, pigeon. 

Serdani,s./. Razor. Navaja. 

Sersen,n.p. Spain. Espana. 

Servants./. Pilchard. Sardina. 

Serviche, s.m. Morning-slar. 
Lucero. Seems to be the S'an- 
scvit Saptajihwa, one of the 
names of Agni, the personi- 
fication of Fire. 

Seso, n. adj. Spaniard, Spanish. 
Espanol — Sesi, " Spanish 
woman," Espanola. 

Sestroji,s./. Shell, husk. Cas- 
cara. 

Siarias, 5. pi. Knees. Rodillas. 

Sibica, s.f. Trumpet, probos- 
cis. Trompa. 

Sicha, s.f Female monkey. 
Mona. [Fr. Singe.] 

Sichen,s. m. Kingdom. Reyno. 

Side, s. m. Age, century. Siglo. 

Sicobar, v. a. To extract, pull 
out. Sacar. Properly, To lift. 
Mod. Gr. oijxojvo). 

Sila, 5./. Strength. Fuerza. 

Sillofi, s.f. Thorn. Espina. 
Sans. Sula (pin, spit.) Hin. 
Sul. 

Sihw, adj. Strong. Fueite.Rus. 
Silnoy. 

Simaehe, ) s. Sign. Serial. Gr. 

Simachi, } otjusior. 

Simbres, s. pi. Eye-brows. Cejas. 

Simprofie, n. p. Joseph. Jose. 

Sinar, v.n. To be. Ser, Estar. 

Sinastra, s.f. Capture, prize. 
Prcsa. 

Sinastro, s. m. Prisoner. Preso. 
Sans. Sandita. 

Sincarfial, s. m. Slave. Esclavo, 

Sinchule, s. m. Roll of tobac- 
co, cigar. Cigarro. 

Singa, s.f. Singing, music. Can- 
tar. Musica. 

Singe, s.m. Horn. Cuerno. 
Sans. Sringa. Hin. Sing. 

Singo, adv. Quick. De priesa. 
Sans. Sankshu. 

Simpalomi,«</j. Peeled. Decor- 
ticated. Pelado. 

Sirbalo, s. m. Thimble. Dedal. 

Sirguedes, ) s. m. Wednesday. 

Sirquedis, ) Miercoles. 

Siroque, s.m. Hemp. Caifiamo. 

Siscabelar, v. a. To teach. En- 
sefiar. 

Siscunde, s.m. Wednesday 
Miercoles. 

Sisla, s.f. Vid. Sila. 

Sisli, s.f. Moment. Momento. 
— or sisli, " At the moment," 
Al momento. 

Sistigui, s. Girdle. Cenidor. 
Sans. Saptaka. 

Sitacoria, s.f Kind of tax, 
carved work. Talla. 

Sitaescorial,s./. Unglazed jug. 
Alcarraza. 

Sixtiliar, v.n. To kindle. En- 
cender. 

.Soba, s.f Nightmare Pesadilla. 



Sobadrar, v. a. To sweat. Sudar. 

Sobelar, v. n. To sleep. Dormir. 
Sans. San vesa (sleeping.) 

Sobindoy, s. Sleep. Dormidura. 
Perhaps the proper significa- 
cation of this word is, Dream, 
vision. From the Russian 
Snobidenie. 

Socabar, v.a.n. To inhabit, 
dwell. Habitar, morar. Also, 
To be, Estar. Vid. Sabocar, 
Soscabar. 

Socreteria, s.f. Synagogue. Si- 
nagoga. 

Sodimiar,i>. a. To sweat. Su- 
dan^ 

Sofanar, v. n. To travel, go. 
Viajar, ir. Arab. Safara. 

Solaja, s.f Curse. Maldicion. 
— Chibar una solaja, " To 
curse." Maldecir. Vid. Ola- 
jay- 

Solares,s.^. Pantaloons, trow- 
sers. Pantalones. 

Solares,5.pZ. Powers. Poderes. 
Sans. 1 Sthaura (power.) — I 
found this word in a transla- 
tion, apparently ancient, of 
a church canticle, which a 
Cordovese Gypsy repeated 
to me; and which runs as 
follows : — 

Majaro Undebel ! "Holy God!" 
Majaro Sol&res ! " Holy Powers !" 

Majaro Merinao! J "Jjjf, lmmor - 

Listrab&nos, Er- j „ Sa * eug)Lord „ 
ano, ) ' 

De o saro bastai- 5 " From all afflic- 
tardo I" ) tion I" 

Solgia,.s./, Hare. Liebre. Sans. 

Sulika. Arab Sokhalat. 
Solibari, s.f. Bridle. Freno, 

Mod. Gr. ovZfaiPaQi. 
Solter, s.m. Notary Public. 

Escribano. 
Sonacai, s. Gold. Oro. Sans. 

Kanaka. Pers. Tanka. 
Sonsane, s. m. Sausage. Cho- 

nzo. 
Sonsi, s.f Mouth. Boca. 
Sonsibelar, v. n. To keep si- 
lence (hold the mouth.) Cal- 

lar. 
Sorinbo, adj. Serious, dejected. 

Serio. 
Soripa, s.f Wood. Lena. 
Sornar, v. n. To sleep. Dormir. 

Hin. Sona. 
Soronje, adj. Sorrowful. Afli- 

jido. 
Soronji,s./. Sorrow. Afliccion. 
Sos, pron. rel. Who, that. Que. 

[Gr.oc.] 
Soscabas, v. a. n. To inhabit, 

dwell. Habitar. 
Sosi, s. Court, yard. Corral. 
Sosimbo, s.m. Oven. Homo. 
Sosimbres, s.pl. Eye-lashes. 

Pestanas. 
Soso, 5. m. Tranquillity. So- 

siego. 
Sosque,a<Zp. Where. Donde. 
Sotagaji, s.f Jujube, fruit of 

the jujube. Azufayfa. Sans. 

Suviryva 



Sublimar, v. a. To set at liber- 
ty, loose. Soltar. 
Sudo, adv. Asleep. Durmiendo. 
Sueti,s./. World, people. Mun- 

do, jente. — This word is pure 

Russian. 
Sugerilar, v. a. To put. Poner. 
Sugilla, s.f Justice. Justicia. 
Sulando, adj. Loose, light, easy. 

Suelto. 
Sulastraba, s.f. Chain, shackle. 

Cadena. Arab. Selselat. Sans. 

Srinkhala. 
Sumi,s./. Broth, soup. Caldo. 

Mod. Gr. tovui. Sans. Supa. 
Sumuquelar, v. a. To cement, 

join. Pegar. 
Suncai, s.f. Spirit, soul. Espi- 

ritu, alma. 
Sundilar, v.n. To descend. De- 
scender. 
Sungalo, s. m. Traitor, he-goat. 

Traidor, cabron. 
Sungar,r.a. To betray, inform 

against. Soplar. 
Sungelar,0.n. To stink. Heder. 
Sunglq, s. m. Melon. Melon. 
Sunpacel, adv. Near. Cerca. 

Sans. Samipa. 
Surabi, adj. Fine. Fino. Sans. 

Saru. 
Surdan, s.f World. Mundo. 

Sans. Sansara. 
Surde, adj. Buff-coloured. An- 

teado. 
Surdete, s. m. World. Mundo. 

Sans. Sansriti. 
Surdinar, v. a. v. r. To raise, 

stand up. Levantar. 
Susalar, v. a. To satisfy. Satis- 

facer. 
Sustilar, v. a. v. r. To detain, 

to be detained. Detener. Hin. 

Soostana (to rest.) 
Sustiry, 5./. Lot, fortune. Su- 

erte. Sans. Susthata (happi- 
ness.) Hin. Sitari. 



Ta, conjunc. And Y. — Chulo 
tapaque, "Dollar and a half," 
Duro y medio. 

Tabastorre, s.f. The right- 
hand. Mane derecha. Sans. 
Avasavya. 

Tabuman, s. m. May. Mayo. 
Sans. Tapana. 

Tacufii, s.f. A kind of leather 
case. Petaca. 

Tajuni, s.f. Box. Caja. 

Talabi, s.f. Sedge. Esparto. 

Talarosis, 5. pi. Garments. Ves- 
tidos. Sans. Cheld. 

Tanbubian,5./7i. Hcrse-jockey. 
Chahin. 

Tandal,5.»» Court, yard. Pa- 
tio. 

Tangle, s.m. April. Abril. 

TapHlar, v. a. To drink. Beber. 
Vid. Piyar. 

Taquibaque, s. Ramrod. Ba- 
queta. 

Tarpe,5. m. Heaven. Ci61o, 
Sans. Devapatha, Div. 

Tarquino, s. m. Parable. Pard- 
bola. 



VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE. 



141 



Tasabar, v. a. To choak, suffo- 
cate. Ahogar. 

Tasala, s.f. Evening. Tarde. 
Sans. Say a. 

Tasalar, v. n. To delay. Tardar. 

Tasar. Vid. Tasabar. 

Tasarbani, s. m. Mason. Alba- 
nil. 

Tasarden, adv. Late. Tarde. 

Tasquiiio, 5. m. Million. Millon. 

Tati, 5./. Fever. Calentura. 
Sans. Tapaka. 

Tati bari, s.f. The great or 
putrid fever. Calentura ma- 
ligna. 

Tato, s. m. Bread. Pan. 

Tebleque, God, the Saviour. 
Dios, Jesus. 

Techafao, adj. Bent, crooked. 
Agachado. 

Techescdr,».a. To cast. Echar. 

Techorde, adj. Weak, infirm. 
Invalido. 

Tejuni, s.f. Tarantula. Taran- 
tula. 

Telejeni, s.f. Mat. Estera. 

Tellorre, s. m. Minister. Mi- 
ni stro. 

Tememblero,a<fo. Early. Tem- 
prano. 

Tempano, s.m. Piece, portion. 
Pedazo. Sans. Damma (to 
divide.) 

Terelar, v. a. To hold, have, 
possess. Tener. Sans. Dha- 
rana (holding.) 

Ternaciba, s.f. Rage, madness. 
Rabia. 

Ternasibel, s.m. Worth, valour. 
Valor, valentia. Sans. Dha- 
nara. 

Terneja, adj. Valiant. Valiente. 

Ternoro, adj. Young, new. Jo- 
ven, nu6vo. Pers. Tar. 

Terrepleco, s.m. End, bounda- 
ry. Termino. 

Terrain, s.f. Scratch. Arano. 

Tesquelo, s. m. Grandfather. 
Abuelo. 

Tesquera, s.f. Front, forehead. 
Frente. 

Tesquinso, adj. Sour. Agrio. 
Pers. Tez. 

Tesumiar, v. n. To stop. Parar. 

Tibay, adj. Stiff, firm. Tieso. 

Tiliche, s. m. Lover. Amante. 



Timuchi, 



, ]«<!/. Same. Misma. 



Tinbalo, s. m. Musician. Mu- 
sico. Sans. Tandava (dan- 
cing.) 

Tirabani, 5. m. Shoe. Zapato. 

Tirajai, 5. pi. Shoes. Zapatos. 
Sans. Tadatrana. 

Tiraj6ro, s. m. Shoe-maker. Za- 
patero. 

Tiro, pron.pos. Thine. Tu. — 
Fern. Tin. Hin. Tera. 

Torbergeli, s.f. A plain, desert 
place, mountainous region 
Campo, despoblado, serrania. 
Sans. Dhara. 

Tornasiba, s.f. Rage, anger 
Rabia. 

Tornasibe, s. m. Pride, passion. 
Soberbia. 
19 



Tocinb6,5. m. Circumvolution, 
wheel. Torno. 

Toto, s.m. Cheese. Queso. 
Properly, curdled milk. Sans. 
Dadhi. 

Trabare, So great. Tan grande. 

Traisne, s. m. The post, cou- 
rier. Correo. Sans. Taraswin. 

Tramalar, v. a. To tie, tram- 
mel. Atar. 

Tran, adv. comp. So much. 
Tan. 

Tran-flima, adv. So little, nei- 
ther. Tampoco. 

Trani,5./. Mouth. Mes. 

Traquias, 5. pi. Grapes. Uvas. 
Sans. Draksha. Vid. Dracay. 

Tramistos, conjunc. adv. Also, 
as well. Tambien. 

Trasardo, s. m. Tiled roof. Te- 
jddo^ 

Trebena, s.f. A star. Estr6lla. 

Tremendo, s. m. Danger. Pe- 
ligro. — This word appears to 
belong to the eant, or robber 
jargon. 

Tremucha, s.f. Moon. Luna. 
Sans. Chandramas. 

Trianda, adj. Thirty. Treinta. 
Mod. Gr. TQiavra. 

Trijul, s.f. The cross. La cruz. 
Hin. Trisool. — Querelar la 
trijul, " To make the sign of 
the cross," Persignarse. 

Triman, s.f. Alms, charity. Li- 
mosna. 

Trin, adj. Three, Tres. 

Trin, adj. So much so. Tanto. 

Troecane, s.f. Work, deed. 
Obra. 

Tronfaron, s. m. Stock, trunk. 
Tronco. 

Trostis, adj. Educated, nou- 
rished. Criado, alimentado. 
— A child that has lost its 
parents, and is adopted by 
other people, is Trostis. 

Trujan , s. m. Tobacco. Tabaco. 

Trujatapucherido, adj. Con- 
ceived. Concebido. 

Truni,s./. Floor, ground. Sud- 
lo. 

Trupo, s.m. Body. Cuerpo. 
Rus. Trap. 

Truta, s.f Return. Vuelta. 

Trutar, v. a. n. To return. Vol- 
ver. 

Tucue, pron. pers. Thou. Tu. 
Pers. Tu. 

Tumbardo, 5. m. Purgatory. 
Purgatorio. 

Tun, pron. pos. Thy, thine. Tu. 

Tundico, adj. Muddy, turbid. 
— Turbio. 

Tunia, s.f. Cave. Cueva. 

Tuni, s.f. Apothecary's shop. 
— Botica. 

Tuiii, s.f. Oil-flask. Alcuza. 

Turno, s.m. Castle. Castillo. 

Turra, s.f. Nail, claw. Una. 

Tusni,s./. Earthen jar. Betija. 

Tuyolo, adj. Bad, evil. Malo. 

V. 

Vea.,s.f. Garden, kitchen-gar- 
1 den. Jardfn, huerta. 

n2 



Velar, v. a. To cut. Ccrtar. 
\vr;iblv, adj. Everlasting. Scrn- 

pitcrno. 
Visalti, s.f. Debt. Deuda. 
Vriardao, par. pas. Dressed, 

adorned, Vestido, adornado. 

U. 

Uchagardi, s.f. Star. Estrel- 
la 

Uchi, s.f Tongue. Lengua. 

Udicare, v. def. Might or should 
have. Hubiere. 

Ulandar, v. a. To hang up. 
Collar. 

Ulandi, s.f. Hook to hang 
things upon. Colgadcro. 

Ulaque, s. One of the districts 
into which a town is divided. 
Barrio. 

Ulicha,5./. Street. CallcRus. 
Ulitza. 

Ulilla, n. p. Seville. Sevilla. 

Ulique, s. Festival. Fiesta. 

Ululo, adj. Angry. Enojado. 

Uluya, s.f Fame. Fama. 

Uncho, A particle, which the 
Gypsies of Estremadura are 
in the habit of affixing to 
Spanish words, in order to 
disguise them, and to pre- 
vent their being easily un- 
derstood ; e. g. Favoruncho, 
"favour;" Gozuncho,"joy," 
&c. — Particula que los Jita- 
nos de Estremadura, suelen 
posponer a palabras Castel- 
lanas, para disfrazarlas,y que 
no se les entienda facilmente. 

Undabilar, v. a. To chew. Mas- 
car. 

Un-debel, s. m. God. Dios. — 
The first syllable of this word 
seems to be the Om of the 
Buddhists and Brahmins, 
which is one of the names 
of the Deity : and is the com- 
mencement of that mysteri- 
ous sentence, Om ma ni bat 
si khom; which, according 
to the creed of the followers 
of the Grand Lama, contains 
the essence of all prayer ; 
and by the constant repeti- 
tion of which, they hope to 
obtain the tide of Bivanga- 
rit, and to ascend to the ele- 
vation of Bouddh. 

Unga, adv. Yea, truly, yes. Si. 
In the English dialect, Auka. 
Sans. Tryama. 

Ungachoba, s.f. Syllable. Si- 
laba. 

Ungla, s.f. Nail, claw. Uni. 
[Lat. Ungula.J 

Unglabar, v. a. To seize, to 
hang. Agarrar, ahorcar. 

Ununique, s f. Confession, 
Confesion. 

Urapero, adj. Prudent. Cuerdo, 
prudente. 

Urdifar, v. a. To put. Poner, 

Urdiffar, v. a. To kindle. En- 
cender. 

Urdiiii,5./. Fancy, presump- 
tion. Fantasia. 



142 



THE ZINCALI. 



Uriiyar, v. a. To suffer. Su- 

frir. 
Ustilar, v. a. To take, to steal. 

Tomar, robar. 
Usur, s. m. Smoke. Humo. 
Uyi,s./. Sugar. Azucar. Sans. 

Ikshu (sugar-cane.) 

Y. 

Yaque, >5.m. Fire. Fuego, 
Yaquero, ) lumbre. Sans. Agi- 



ra. Hin.Ag. [Rus. Ogin. Lat. 

Ignis.] 
Ybucho, s. m. Jew. Judio. 
Ye-ref, s. m. The colour, form. 

El color, la figura. 
Yeru, s. m. Wolf. Lobo. 
Ylo, s.m. Soul. Alma. Vid. 

Olilo. Sans. Ligu. 
Yustique, s.m. Girdle, belt. 

Ceiiiddr. 



Z. 

Zaraborino, s. m. Pumpkin, ca- 
labash. Oalabaza. 

Zarapia, s.f. The itch. Sarna. 

Zerecin,5.m. Sausage. Salchi- 
chon. 

Zermana, s.f. Curse. Maldi- 
cion. Sans. Sapana. 

Zi,s.f. Hen. Gallina. 

Zibaora, s.f. Needle. Agiija. 

Zin-calo, e. m. Gypsy. Jitano. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



*w^^%^^**^^/*^^«^^^^ 



It is with the view of preserving as many as possible of the 
monuments of the Spanish Gypsy tongue that the author inserts 
the following pieces; they are for the most part, whether original 
or translated, the productions of the " Aficion" of Seville, of whom 
something has been vsaid in the Preface to the Spurious Gypsy 
Poetry of Andalusia; not the least remarkable, however, of these 
is a genuine Gypsy composition, the translation of the Apostles' 
Creed by the Gypsies of Cordova, made under the circumstances 
detailed in the second part of this volume. To all have been af- 
fixed translations, more or less literal, to assist those who may wish 
to form some acquaintance with the Gitano language. 



MISCELLANIES 



IN THE 



GITANO LANGUAGE. 



COTORRES ON CHIPE CALL! 



Bato Nonrro sos socabas on o tarpe, man- 
jirificado quejesa tute acnao; abillanos or tute 
sichen, y querese tute orependola andial on 
la chen sata on o tarpe ; or manrro nonrro de 
cata chibel difianoslo sejofiia, y estormenanos 
nonrrias bisauras andial sata gaberes estor- 
menamos a nonrros bisaraores ; y nasti nes 
muques petrar on la bajanbo, bus listrabanos 
de chorre.-— Anarania. 

Panchabo on Ostebe Bato saro-asisilable, 
Perbaraor de o tarpe y la chen, y on Gresone 
desquero Beyio Chabal nonrrio Erano, sos 
guillo sar-trujata-pucherido per troecane y 
sardafia de or Chanispero Manjaro, y purelo 
de Manjari ostelinda deblaj Bricholo ostele 
de or asislar de Brono Alienicato ; guillo tre- 
juficao, mule y cabafiao; y sundilo a los 
casinobes,* y a or brodelo chibel repurelo de 
enrre los mules, y encalomo a los otarpes, y 
soscabela bestique a la tabastorre de Ostebe 
Bato saro-asisilable, ende aoter a de abillar a 
sarplar a los Apucheris y mules. Panchabo 
on or Chanispero Manjaro, la Manjari Can- 
gari Pebuldorica y Rebuldorica, la Erunon de 
los Manjaros, or Estormen de los crejetes, la 
repurelo de la mansenquere y la chibiben ve- 
rable. — Anarania, Tenbleque. 

OCANAJ1MIA A LA DEBLA. 

O Debla quirindia, Day de saros los Bor- 
deles on coin panchabo: per los duquipenes 
sos naquelastes a or pindre de la trejul de 
tute Chaborro majarolisimo te manguelo, 
Debla, me alcorabises de tute chaborro or 
estormen de sares las dojis y crejetes sos 
menda udicare aquerao on andoba surdete. — 
Anarania, Tebleque. 

Ostebe te berarbe Ostelinda! perdoripe 
sirles de sardafia ; or Erano sin sartute ; bres- 
ban tute sirles enrre sares las rumiles, y bres- 
ban sin or frujero de tute po. — Tebleque. 

Manjari Ostelinda, day de Ostebe, brichar- 
dila per gaberes crejetaores aocana y on la 



* V. Casinolcn in Lei icon. 



MISCELLANIES. 



Father our, who dwellest in the heaven, 
sanctified become thy name ; come-to-us the 
thy kingdom, and be-done thy will so in the 
earth as in the heaven ; the bread our of every 
day give-us-it to day, and pardon-us our 
debts so as we-others pardon (to) our debtors ; 
and not let us fall in the temptation, but de- 
liver-us from wickedness. — Amen. 

I believe in God, Father all-powerful, cre- 
ator of the heaven and the earth, and in 
Christ his only Son our Lord, who went con- 
ceived by deed and favour of the Spirit Holy, 
and born of blessed goddess divine ; suffered 
under (of) the might of Bronos Alienicatos ;* 
went crucified, dead and buried ; and de- 
scended to the conflagrations, and on the third 
day revivedf from amongthe dead, and ascend- 
ed to the heavens, and dwells seated at the 
right-hand of God, Father all-powerful, from 
there he-has to come to impeach (to) the 
living and dead. I believe in the Spirit Holy, 
the Holy Church Catholic and Apostolic, the 
communion of the saints, the remission of the 
sins, the re-birth of the flesh, and the life 
everlasting. — Amen, Jesus. 



PRAYER TO THE VIRGIN. 

O most holy Virgin, mother of all the Chris- 
tians, in whom I believe : for the agony which 
thou didst endure at the foot of the cross of 
thy most blessed Son, I entreat thee, Virgin, 
that thou wilt obtain for me, from thy Son, 
the remission of all the crimes and sins which 
I may have committed in this world. — Amen, 
Jesus. 

God save thee, Maria! full art thou of 
grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art 
thou amongst all women, and blessed is the 
fruit of thy womb. — Jesus. 

Holy Maria, Mother of God, pray for us 

* By these two words, Pontius Pilate is represented, 
but whence they are derived I know not. 
J fieborn. 



144 



MISCELLANIES. 



145 



ocana de nonrra beriben ! — Anarania, Teble- 
que. 

Chimuclani or Bato, or Chabal, or Chanis- 
pero manjaro ; sata sia on or presimelo, aoca- 
na, y gajeres : on los sides de los sicles. — 
Anarania. 

OR CREDO. 

SARTA LO CHIBELARON LOS CALES DE COR- 
DOVATI. 

Pachabelo en Un-debel batu tosaro-baro, 
que ha querdi el char y la chique ; y en Un- 
debel chinoro su unico chaboro erano de 
amangue, que chalo en el trupo de la Majari 
por el Duquende Majoro, y abio del veo de la 
Majari; guillo curado debajo de la sila de 
Pontio Pilato el chinabaro; guillo mulo y 
garabado ; se chalo alas jacharis ; al trin chibe 
se ha sicobado de los mules al char ; sinela 
bejado a las baste de Un-debel barrea ; y de 
ote abiara a juzgar a los mules y a los que no 
lo sinelan ; pachabelo en el Majaro ; la Can- 
gri Majari barea ; el jalar de los Majaries ; lo 
meco de los grecos ; la resureccion de la maas, 
y la ochi que no marela. 



REJELENDRES. 

Or soscabela juco y terable garipe on le sin 
perfine anelar relichi. 

Bus yes manupe cha machagarno le pendan 
chuchipon los brochabos. 

Sacais sos ne dicobelan calochin ne brida- 
quelan. 

Coin terelare trasardos e dinastes nasti le 
buchare berrandanas a desquero contique. 

On sares las cachimanes de Sersen abillen 
reches. 

Bus mola yes chirriclo on la ba sos gres 
balogando. 

A Ostebe brichardilando y sar or mochique 
dinelando. 

Bus mola quesar jero de gabuno sos man- 
pori de bombardo. 

Dicar y panchabar, sata penda Manjaro 
Lillar. 

Or esorjie de or narsichisle sin chismar la- 
chinguel. 

Las queles mistos grobelas: per macara 
chibel la piri y de rachi la operisa. 

Aunsos me dicas vriardao de jorpoy ne sirlo 
braco. 

Chachipe con jujana — Calzones de buchi y 
medias de lana. 

Chuquel sus pirela cocal terela. 

Len sos sonsi bela pani oreblandani terela. 



ODORES YE TILICHE. 

Dica Calli soslinastes terelas, plasarandote 
misto men calochin desquifiao de trinchas 
punis y canrrias, sata anjella terelaba dicando 

* Poverty is always avoided. 

t A drunkard reduces himself to the condition of a hog. 
% The most he can do. 

§ The puchero,orpan of glazed earth, in which bacon, 
beef, and garbanzos are stewed. 



sinners, now and in the hour of our death ! 
— Amen, Jesus. 

Glory (to) the Father, the Son, (and) the 
Holy Ghost ; as was in the beginning, now, 
and forever: in the ages of the ages.— Amen. 

THE CREED. 

TRANSLATED BY THE GYPSIES OF CORDOVA. 

I believe in God the Father all-great, who 
has made the heaven and the earth ; and in 
God the young, his only Son, the Lord of us, 
who went into the body of the blessed (maid) 
by (means of) the Holy Ghost, and came out 
of the womb of the blessed ; he was tormented 
beneath the power of Pontius Pilate, the great 
Alguazil ; was dead and buried ; he went 
(down) to the fires; on the third day he raised 
himself from the dead unto the heaven ; he is 
seated at the major hand of God ; and from 
thence he shall come to judge the dead and 
those who are not (dead.) I believe in the 
blessed one ; in the church holy and great ; 
the banquet of the saints ; the remission of 
sins ; the resurrection of the flesh, and the life 
which does not die. j 

PROVERBS. 

He who is lean and has scabs needs not 
carry a net.* 

When a man goes drunk the boys say to 
him "suet."f 

Eyes which see not break no heart. 

He who has a roof of glass let him not fling 
stones at his neighbour. 

Into all the taverns of Spain may reeds 
come. 

A bird in the hand is worth more than a 
hundred flying. 

To God (be) praying and with the flail ply- 
ing. 

It is worth more to be the head of a mouse 
than the tail of a lion. 

To see and to believe, as Saint Thomas 
says. 

The extremej of a dwarf is to spit largely. 

Houses well managed : — at mid-day the 
stew-pan, § and at night salad. 

Although thou seest me dressed in wool, I 
am no sheep. 

Truth with falsehood — Breeches of silk 
and stockings of wool. || 

The dog who walks finds a bone. 

The river which makes a noiseH has either 
water or stones. | 

THE LOVER'S JEALOUSY 

Reflect, O Callee !** what motives hast thou 
(now that my heart is doting on thee, having 
rested awhile from so many cares and griefs 

|| Truth contrasts strangely with falsehood ; this is a 
genuine Gypsy proverb, as are the two which follow : it 
is repeated throughout Spain without bring understood. 

1! In the original wears a mouth: the meaning is, ask 
nothing, gain nothing. ♦* Female Gypsy. 



146 



THE ZIXCALI. 



on los chorres naquelos sos me tesumiaste, 
y andial reutila a men Jeli^ dinela gao a sos 
menda orobibele ; men puni sin trincha per 
la quimbila nevel de yes manu barbalo; sos 
saro se muca per or jandorro. Lo sos bus 
prejeno Calli de los Bengorros sin sos nu 
muqueis per yes manu barbalo. On tute 
orchiri nu chismo, tramisto on coin te ara- 
quera, sos menda terela men nostus pa avel 
sos me camela bus sos tute. 



OR PERSIBARARSE SIN CHORO. 

Gajeres sin corbo rifian soscabar yes manu 
persibarao, per sos saro se linbidian odoros^y 
beslli, y per esegriton apuchelan on sardana 
de saros los Benjes, techescando grejos y 
olajais — de sustiri sos lo resaronomo niquilla 
murmo ; y andial lo fendi sos terelamos de 
querar sin techescarle yes sulibari a or Jeli, 
y ne panchabar an caute manusardi, persos 
trutan a yesque lili. 

LOS CHORES. 

On grejelo chiro begoreo yesque berbanilla 
de chores a la burda de yes mostipelo a oleba 
rachi — Andial sos la prejenaron los cambrais 
presimelaron a cobadrar ; sar andoba linaste 
changano or lanbro, se sustino de la charipe 
de lapa, untilo la pusca, y niquillo platanando 
per or platesquero de or mostipelo a la burda 
sos socabelaba pandi, y per or jobi de la clichi 
chibelo or jundro de la pusca, le dino pesquibo 
a or langute, y le sumuquela yes bruchasno 
on la tesquera a or Jojenan de los ostilaores 
y lo techesco de or grate a ostele. Andial 
sos los debus quimbilos dicobelaron a desquero 
Jojerian on chen sar las canrriales de la Be- 
riben, lo chibelaron espusifias a los grastes, y 
niquillaron chapescando, trutando la romuy 
apala, per bausale de las machas 6 almedalles 
de liripio. 

* Women understood. 

f With that motive awoke the labourer. Orig. 



which formerly it endured, beholding the evil 
passages which thou preparedst for me ;) to 
recede thus from my love, giving occasion to 
me to weep. My agony is great on account 
of thy recent acquaintance with a rich man : 
for every thing is abandoned for money's sake. 
What I most feel, O Callee, of the devils is, 
that thou abandonest me for a rich man. . . 
I spit upon thy beauty, and also upon him 
who converses with thee, for I keep my money 
for another who loves me more than thou. 

THE EVILS OF CONCUBINAGE. 

It is always a strange danger for a man to 
live in concubinage, because all turns to jea- 
lousy and quarrelling, and at last they live in 
the favour of all the devils, voiding oaths and 
curses : so that what is cheap turns out dear. 
So the best we can do, is to cast a bridle on 
love, and trust to no woman, for they * make 
a man mad. 



THE ROBBERS. 

On a certain time arrived a band of thieves 
at the gate of a farm-house at midnight. So 
soon as the dogs heard them they began to 
bark, which causing! the labourer to awake, 
he raised himself from his bed with a start, 
took his musket, and went running to the 
court-yard of the farm-house to the gate, 
which was shut, placed the barrel of his 
musket to the key-hole, gave his finger its 
desire,| an( * sent a bullet into the forehead of 
the captain of the robbers, casting him down 
from his horse. Soon as the other fellows 
saw their captain on the ground in the agonies 
of death, they clapped spurs to their horses, 
and galloped off fleeing, turning their faces 
back on account of the flies§ or almonds of 
lead. 

X Gave its pleasure to the finger, i.e. his finger was 
itching to draw the trigger, and he humoured it. 

§ They feared the shot and slugs, which are compared, 
and not badlv, to Hies and almonds. 



MISCELLANIES. 



147 



COTOR YE GAB1C0TE 
MAJARO. 

OR SOS SARO LO HA. CHIBADO EN CHIPE CALLI 
OR RANDADOR DE OCONOS PAPIRIS AUNSOS 
NARDIAN LO HA DINADO AL SURDETE. 



Y soscabando dicando dico los Barbalos 
sos techescaban desqueros mansis on or Ga- 
zofilacio; y dico tramisto yesque pispiricha 
chorrorita, sos techescaba duis chinorris sara- 
ballis, y penelo : en chachipe os penelo, sos 
caba chorrorri pispiricha a techescao bus sos 
sares los aveles : persos saros ondobas han 
techescao per los mansis de Ostebe, de lo sos 
les costuna ; bus caba e desquero chorrorri a 
techescao sare saro or susalo sos terelaba. Y 
pendo a cormufiis, sos pendaban del canga- 
ripe, soscabelaba uriardo de orchiris berran- 
danas, y de denes : Cabas buchis sos dicais, 
abillaran chibeles, bus ne muquelara berran- 
daiia costuiie berrandafia, sos ne quesesa de- 
marabea. Y le prucharon y pendaron : Do- 
curdo, bus quesa ondoba? Y sos simachi 
abicara bus ondoba presimare'J Ondole po- 
nelo: Dicad, sos nasti queseis jonjabaos; 
persos butes abillaran on men acnao, pen- 
dando : man sirlo, y or chiro soscabela pajes : 
Garabaos de guillelar apala de ondolayos : y 
bus junureis barganas y sustifies, ne os espa- 
jueis ; persos sin perfine sos ondoba chundee 
brotobo, bus nasti quesa escotriaoregresiton. 
Oclinde les pendaba : se sustinara sueste sar- 
tra sueste, y sichen sartra sichen, y abicara 
bareles dajiros de chenes per los gaos, y re- 
treques y bocatas, y abicara buchengeres es- 
pajuis, y bareles simachis de otarpe : bus 
anjella de saro ondoba os sinastraran y pre- 
guillaran, enregandoos a la Socreteria, y los 
ostardos, y os legeraran a los Oclayes, y a 
los Baquedunis, per men acnao : y ondoba os 
chundeara on chachipe. Terelad pus suraji 
on bros garlochines de ne orobrar anjella sata 
abicais de brudilar, persos man os diiiare 
rotufii y chanar, la sos ne asislaran resistir 
ne sartra pendar saros bros enormes. Y 
quesareis enregaos de bros batos, y opranos, 
y sastris, y monrrores, y querara merar a 
cormuni de averes ; y os cangelaran saros per 
men acnao ; bus ne carjibara ies bal de bros 
jeros. Sar bras opachirima avelareis bras 
orchis: pus bus dicareis a Jerusalem relli, 
oclinde chanad sos desquero petra soscabela 
pajes ; oclinde los soscabelan on la Chutea, 
chapesguen a les toberjelis; y los que on ma- 
cara de ondolaya, niquillense; y lo sos on los 
oltariques, nasti enrren on ondolaya; persos 
odoba sen chibeles de Abillaza, pa sos chun- 
deen sares las buchis soscabelan libanas; bus 
isna de las araris, y de las sos difian de oro- 
pielar on asirios chibeles ; persos abicara bare 
quichartura costuiie la chen, e guillara pa 



SPECIMEN OF THE 
GOSPEL. 

FROM THE AUTHOR'S UNPUBLISHED TRANS- 
LATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



And whilst looking he saw the rich who 
cast their treasures into the treasury; and he 
saw also a poor widow, who cast two small 
coins, and he said : In truth, I tell you, that 
this poor widow has cast more than all the 
others; because all those have cast, as of- 
ferings to God, from that which to them 
abounded ; but she from her poverty has cast 
all the substance which she had. And he 
said to some, who said, of the temple, that 
it was adorned with fair stones, and with 
gifts : These things which ye see, days shall 
come, when stone shall not remain upon stone, 
which shall not be demolished. And they 
asked him and said : Master, when shall this 
be 1 and what sign shall there be when this 
begins 1 He said : See, that ye be not de- 
ceived, because many shall come in my name, 
saying: I am (he,) and the time is near : be- 
ware ye of going after them : and when ye 
shall hear (of) wars and revolts do not fear ; 
because it is needful that this happen first, 
for the end shall not be immediately. Then 
he said to them : Nation shall rise against 
nation, and country against country, and there 
shall be great tremblings of earth among the 
towns, and pestilences and famines ; and there 
shall be frightful things, and great signs in 
the heaven : but before all this they shall 
make ye captive, and shall persecute, de- 
livering ye over to the synagogue, and pri- 
sons ; and they shall carry ye to the kings, 
and the governors, on account of my name : 
and this shall happen to you for truth. Keep 
then firm in your hearts, not to think before 
how ye have to answer, for I will give- you 
mouth and wisdom, which all your enemies 
shall not be able to resist, or contradict. And 
ye shall be delivered over by your fathers, and 
brothers, and relations, and friends, and they 
shall put to death some of you ; and all shall 
hate you for my name; but not one hair of 
your heads shall perish. With your patience 
ye shall possess your souls: but when ye 
shall see Jerusalem surrounded, then know 
that its fall is near ; then those who are in 
Judea, let them escape to the mountains ; and 
those who are in the midst of her, let them 
go out; and those who are in the fields, let 
them not enter into her; because those are 
days of vengeance, that all the things which 
are written may happen ; but alas to the preg- 
nant and those who give suck in those days, 
for there shall be great distress upon the earth, 
and it shall move onward against this people; 



148 



THE ZINCALI. 



andoba Gao ; y petraran a surabi de janrro ; 
yquesan legeraos sinastros asareslas chenes, 
y Jerusalen quesa omana de los suestiles, 
sasta sos quejesen los chiros de las sichenes ; 
y anicara simaches on or orcan, y on la chi- 
mutia, y on las uchurgafiis; y on la chen 
chalabeo on la sueste per or dan sos bausa- 
lara la loria y desqueros gulas; muquelendo 
los romares bifaos per dajiralo de las buchis 
sos costime abillaran a saro or surdete ; persos 
los solares de los otarpes quesan sar-chala- 
beaos; y oclinde dicaran a or Chaboro e 
Manu abillar costufie yesque minrricla sar 
baro asislary Chimusolano : bus presimelaren 
a chundear caba buchis, dicad, y sustifiad 
bros jer6s pajes soscabela bras redencion. 



and they shall fall by the edge of the sword ; 
and they shall be carried captive to all the 
countries, and Jerusalem shall be trodden by 
the nations, until are accomplished the times 
of the nations ; and there shall be signs in the 
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and 
in the earth trouble of nations from the fear 
which the sea and its billows shall cause; 
leaving men frozen with terror of the things 
which shall come upon all the world ; because 
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; 
and they shall see the Son of Man coming 
upon a cloud with great power and glory: 
when these things begin to happen, iook ye, 
and raise your heads, for your redemption is 
near. 



THE END. 



LBS '14 



PROSPECTUS 



OF THE 



SELECT LIBRARY 



OF 



RELIGIOUS LITERATURE 



One of the distinguishing features of the day is the multiplication of Chfap Books. Publications of 
this kind have been hitherto confined, with a few exceptions, to works entirely nugatory in point of 
good morals or positively injurious to them. .,,,.„«. , * 

The subscriber proposes the publication of a Monthly Library, in which he will offer to the notice of 
the community a series of works of another character, which, from the high price at which they are 
neld, are almost sealed books, except to the wealthy. 

The first of the series will be D'Aubigne's History of the Great Reformation in Germany and Swit- 
zerland. At this time, when the efforts of the Roman Catholic clergy to extend their religious, and as 
many believe, civil sway over our country, are so untiring, the general diffusion of this work cannot but 
be advantageous to the cause of civil and religious freedom. The historian has discharged his task with 
singular fidelity and ability. The ever-varying scenes of that eventful period pass before the eye in the 
most vivid manner, producing effects as far surpassing in interest as in truth the highest efforts of dra- 
matic skill. The characters of Luther and the other leading Reformers, as well as those of the champions 
of the church of Rome, are depicted with a force that imparts to them the reality and beauty of the most 
masterly paintings. They 4 ' live, move, and have a being," though centuries have elapsed since they 
played their part in the most eventful drama of modern ages. 

This work has the commendation of the Protestant clergy of both our own country and Europe, and 
has passed through several editions even in its present costly form. It will be published in five monthly 
numbers, each containing about 240 pages of the American book copy, and at one-fourth the price of the 
present edition. The present work will be followed by others of a similar character. 

Price per number 15 cents; or $1.80 a year for the Library. 

IEFA11 orders must be post paid and accompanied by a remittance. 

# * # Post-masters are authorized to frank letters containing remittances for periodicals. 

JAMES M. CAMPBELL, 98 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
SAXTON & MILES, 205 Broadway, New York. 

Philadelphia, Feburary, 1843. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 

We take pleasure in commending the above work to the public as possessing all the advantages set 
forth in the prospectus, and highly recommend its general circulation. 

( John A. Clark, Rector of St. Andrew's Church. 

Edmund Neville, Rector of St. Philip' Church. 

Geokge W. Bethune, Minister of the Third Reformca Dutch Church. 

Joel Parker, Pastor of Clinton Street Presbyterian Church. 

H. A. Boardman, Pastor of Walnut Street Presbyterian Church. 

John McDowell, Pastor, of Central Presbyterian Church. 

J. Kennaday, Pastor of Methodist Episcopal Church. 

J. Lansing Burrows, Pastor of Sansom Street Church. 
L George B. Ide, Paster of First Baptist Church. 



PHILADELPHIA < 



NEW YORK. 



James Milnor, Rector of St. George's Church. 

Spencer H. Cone, Pastor of First Baptist Church. 

W. W. Evarts, Pastor of Laight Street Baptist Church. 

A. Perkins, Pastor of Borcau Street Baptist Church. 

Duncan Dunbar, Pastor of McDougal Street Church. 

Samuel H. Cox, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church Brooklyn. 

Thomas H. Skinner, Pastor of Mercer Street Church. 

Wm. Patton, Pastor of Spring Street Church. 

Sylvester Eaton. 



JAMES M. CAMPBELL & Go., 

No. 98 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 

Have recently published a beautiful and cheap edition complete in one large octavo volume — 432 pages— \ 

Price $1, full cloth, of 

D'AUBIGNE'S HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION 

IN GERMAN Y AND SWITZERLAND. 

0° This work, being the first of the series published in the " Select Library," can be sent by mail in 
Jive numbers at periodical postage. Price 75 cents — greatest postage 40 cents. 

Also— THE BIBLE IN SPAIN, 

Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman, in an attempt to circulate the 
Scriptures in the Peninsula, by George Borrow, author of" The Gipsies of Spain" — 232 pages octavo- 
price 37 £ cents. 

AIso-THE GIPSIES OF SPAIN, 

With an Original Collection of their Songs and Poetry, by George Borrow. Price 31$. cents. 



Also— FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS, 

Complete in eight numbers of 80 pages each. Price 15 cents per number. 

This work is published uniform with and supplementary to the " Select Library," and hence is subject 
to periodical postage only. Price for the whole, with at least sixteen illustrations in wood, $1 20. 



ALSO, 

RISE AND FALL OF THE PAPACY. 

An Extraordinary Discourse on the Rise and Fall of the Papacy; or the pouring out of the vials, in 
the Revelation of St. John — containing Predictions respecting the Revolutions of France, the Fate of its 
Monarch; the Decline of Papal Power, &c. &c. By Robert Fleming, V.D.M. 



FATHER CLEMENT, 

A Roman Catholic Story, by Grace Kenneday, Author of the Decision, Philip Colville, &c, with a 
Sketch of the Author — A new and beautiful edition — price 25 cents. 



CAMPBELL'S FOREIGN MONTHLY MAGAZrJNE 

Is published the first week in each month, and furnishes the choicest literary contents of the Reviews, 
Magazines, and weekly publications of Europe. Every other number will be embellished with a fine 
engraved likeness of some distinguished individual, particularly of the literary and scientific circles of 
Europe. Price Five Dollars a year, payable in advance. 

JAMES M. CAMPBELL, 

No. 98 Chestnut street, Philadelphia. 






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